Sleepless
by hachi hashi
Summary: They were crazy dreams, but dreams are still just dreams right? OC Self-Insert.
1. Ceilings

AN: I don't own Naruto, but if I did I would have revealed Tenten's back story at some point. Now we'll never know...

Edit 12/8/14: Removed of all the unnecessary bold words when shouting from this chapter on.

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><p><em>CLANG!<em>

My eyes slowly cracked opened, a blurry vision of the off white ceiling coming into view. I began to sit up in; searching for whatever had startled me awake. Had I accidentally kicked something off my bed again in my sleep? I was going to really break something if this kept up…

To my surprise though, a woman was standing next to my footboard. She seemed to be bending over to pick something up. But why the heck was she in my room?!

I quickly scanned the area around me. Nope, this definitely _wasn't_ my room. I was lying in a cold metal bed in a room reminded me of… a hospital? An underfunded one at that. It all seemed pretty worn out from overuse.

But why was I here in the first place? My heart began to pound. Was I in some sort of accident? Did loose a limb or two? I checked quickly. Nothing missing. I took a deep breath to calm myself down.

The only way to know was to ask. Luckily a person was right in front of me too.

The woman was still bent drown, muttering something under her breath that sounded like a curse.

I wasn't sure exactly what to say.

"Um, excuse me…"

The woman quickly jerked up, eyes wide in shock and mouth gaping open. I guessed she was a nurse by looking at her outfit. She was holding a metal tray with squashed food piled on top. That must have been the sound I heard. It was instantly though dropped onto the floor once again. She just continued staring at me, her expression frozen on her face.

Oh crap, my face is seriously disfigured isn't it?

The next thing she did though was run out of the room yelling at the top of her lungs.

"Sensei! Sensei!"

What the, why is she calling for a teacher? I paused. Now that I thought about it, sensei also meant doctor…

But that doesn't explain why she was talking in Japanese!

This weird scenario could only be one of two things.

Either this was just a dream, or I had been kidnapped and brought to Japan, saved by a mysterious person after being seriously injured, then brought to a run down, out of the way hospital in order to treat my injuries.

…

For now I'm just going to go with the first one.

Just as quickly as the nurse had left, she returned, a frantic doctor in tow. He wore scrubs and a lab coat, his long purple hair tied in a low pony tail. Naturally purple hair? The dream theory seems pretty much confirmed now.

He quickly rushed over to me with a completely shocked and bewildered expression on his face. He anxiously spouted off something to me. I could only pick up a stray word here and there.

I sighed in realization. This why you don't cram the night before a test. You get screwed up dreams that include whatever subject you were studying. I had only been learning Japanese for a couple of months so far. The least my dreams could do would be dumbing it down for me.

It seemed that not responding to what the doctor was saying only caused him to freak out more. He grabbed my shoulders, staring straight into my eyes.

Alright this was getting annoying. My sleep wouldn't be restful at all if this kept up. I scanned my limited vocabulary for a response. I had no idea how to say "Get your hands off of me", so I settled for one of the few phrased I knew.

"Urusai!"

The not so formal way to ask for silence.

He looked shocked at this, but also a little relived. He slowly let go of my shoulders, cautiously backing up. He walked over to the nurse who then started conversing with him for a while. He face relaxed a bit, but he kept looking at me out of the corner his eyes every couple of seconds.

Well anyway, now that all of that was taken care of, I wanted to get out of this dream already. My bed seemed comfortable enough, and my pillow seemed like it was filled with more than the bare minimum of stuffing. I laid back one again closing my eyes trying to fall asleep. I had been able to sleep within one of my dreams before. It would probably work again.

However, it seemed like my dream wouldn't let me. I was lightly shaken awake up by the doctor and the nurse almost as quickly as I had able to close my eyes. I moaned, rolling over.

"Just go away…"

They wouldn't. Instead they started checking the machines around me, which I only just realized I was hooked up to. I was surprisingly out of it. I guess it being a dream it would make sense.

Not much hope left now for peace and quiet, I decided I might as well go look around. I pulled the wires off of my body, whatever it was in my nose, and the IV out of my arm. Probably not the smartest decision of my life, seeing as it actually hurt like crazy. I quickly jumped out of bed and headed out the door.

I hadn't noticed how my limp body felt until I started heading down the empty hallway. It felt like jello, not wanting to obey my commands to run.

To their credit the doctor and nurse quickly figured I had left and were soon in pursuit. I was moving surprisingly fast though, soon heading into an adjoining hallway.

This one was jam packed. Its boring entirety was all off white, though the green floor gave it a bit more differentiation. People were moving all throughout, nurses walking between rooms. Visitors were there also, though some of them had strange clothing choices. The hair was especially weird though. I was like an oddly muted rainbow with so many unnatural shades and hues.

To my fortunate surprise, most seemed too busy to notice me walking through. I continued on through the hallway and soon came to a nice large window on my left. I decided to peer outside to look and see what I could see. I was anticipating all of the exciting concrete structures that would be in view; maybe even a nice highway would be there to look at.

Instead I saw buildings. Lots and lots of buildings, though these buildings weren't like I expected. They were made out of wood and some painted vibrant shades. It was actually different architecture style altogether. Different shapes and sizes all jammed together. It was something you would never see in the real world. Heck, there weren't even cars.

There was something about it though, something familiar. It was on the tip of my tongue-

A hand suddenly grabbed my shoulder, spinning me around. The doctor must have caught up with me already… I braced myself for whatever could happen next.

As I was turned around I found myself face to face with a different person all together.

She was a bit on the short side, had blond hair, and a diamond tattooed on her forehead. Odd choice to get a tattoo there of all places… Her reaction to seeing me was similar to the nurse, but a bit more reserved. After a few seconds passed she gave me a sad smile.

"Mako-san."

Who?

"Gomenasai."

Her smile remained, but I suddenly caught some movement out of the corner of my eye.

My vision suddenly faded to black.

* * *

><p>AN: I'm actually just learning Japanese this year myself. Writing this stuff out in romaji feels kind of strange to me. I'm sure I probably messed up somewhere with what words to use in what situation.<p>

It's been a while since I have done anything Naruto, yet I decided to write a fanfiction. I'm sure I got details about the Naruto-verse wrong at somewhere, so feel free to point them out if you catch anything.


	2. Kay

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

My eyes shot open as I jumped out of bed as quickly as possible.

This time though I found my feet on soft carpet. I looked around, soon sighing with relief.

I was back home in my own room. Well, I guess I never actually left it first place. I rubbed my tired eyes and then went to go turn my alarm clock. It sat on the nightstand next to my bed.

My room had a cozy feel I was quite proud of. Most of my furniture was made out of a warm colored wood, and with my bed, beside table, dresser, and desk all in the room it was a bit cramped. Cozy but cramped.

I finally bothered to brush my brown hair out of my face before heading down stairs to the kitchen. It was recently remodeled and was quite the nice place to cook, or if you were like me fail at cooking but be in denial and pretend you were good at it anyway.

As I did every day I went to the cupboard and grabbed out a box of cereal. I got my bowl and spoon together too before sitting down at the table. My dad was already sitting down, customarily reading the news paper while also eating cereal. I guess you could say that this was our routine.

"Good Morning, how did you sleep?"

I munched on my cereal and swallowed.

"Good. I had this really weird dream though."

My dad sighed.

"I never seem to dream much anymore. Either that or I just can't remember them."

He still sighed.

"Your mom though has the craziest dreams she likes tell me about."

He was quiet for a moment before suddenly perking up.

"Anyway, you said you had a test to take today right? What's it on?"

I was in the middle of eating another mouthful cereal.

"Jhapenhese."

He seemed pretty eager to correct me about my habit of talking with my mouth full, but this time let it slide.

"I hope you do well. I'll be thinking about you."

I swallowed

"Thanks. I ended up staying up late to study so I should be fine."

I eyed the clock in the corner of the kitchen; the time seemed to be rapidly ticking by.

I shoved in my last mouthful of cereal before putting my stuff away.

"I gotta get ready to go. Bye Dad!"

He waved to me as I headed up stairs, this time heading to my older sisters room. With her being well into college and her only showing up at home for Christmas, I had converted her room into my own walk in closet.

That might be a stretch to say though since there wasn't much room in the first place. It's not because it's small on anything. It's actually bigger than mine. The thing is that it's jammed packed with stuff.

My sister is one of those crazy obsessed anime people. The moment she got a job she set out to buy as much merchandise as possible. That means her walls are covered with posters, plushies cover her entire bed, random figurines and DVDs also are all around the room. The most notable feature though is what I like to call 'The Wall'. An entire wall of her room is lined with book shelves, floor to ceiling. And what's it filled with? Manga. It has practically any series you could think of, and whenever she comes home she only adds to it. I don't even want to know how much money she spent on all of that.

My sister had tried her hardest to convert me into a fan. She kept trying to get me to read her favorites, but honestly I could never get into any of it. I'm not a fan of crappy romance and I don't have much taste for the really dark stuff either. Other things she showed me just seemed really dumb.

I shuffled through the room until I came to the dressers, allowing me to change into my clothes for the day. Her room has its own bathroom which I took full advantage of. Before we remodeled, this room used to be the master bedroom. Being older my sister got this room, and I was tempted to switch now that she was at college. What stopped me though was the thought of attempting to move 'The Wall'. I shivered at the idea alone.

After finishing getting ready for the day I headed outside to my bus stop. Only after a few minutes of waiting it arrived and I was off to school.

My high school isn't particularly unique in any way. A grey box is what it is. I guess one of my pet peeves is architecture. As an aspiring architect I always want to _fix_ it, whatever that means. I guess I just feel like I could do better than a rectangle.

I headed to my first hour class English Lit., to find one of my friends already there frantically completing a homework assignment. She had dyed red hair and a soft face that made her look younger than she actually was.

I waved over to her as I headed to my desk a few rows behind her.

"Hey Rachel! How was your weekend?"

She barely looked up.

"Just give me two seconds, I'm almost done!"

I sat down in my chair and began to set out my stuff for the class. I also had my Japanese notes with me. It couldn't hurt to study a bit more-

"Yes, I'm done!"

She stood up; double fist pumping into the air.

"Take that Calculus!"

I had to smile. She always had the best reactions.

She turned to me with a smile still on her face, getting out of her desk and walking up to mine.

"Hey, Kay!"

Her smile widened.

"Oh, the rhyming, always so much fun. This is why I love your nickname."

She sat on top of the desk next to mine, stretching her legs out.

"What was it you wanted ask me?"

I sighed, a smile still on my face.

"I was just wondering how your weekend was."

She started to moan.

"Really boring. I didn't really do anything besides sit around and do homework."

I raised an eyebrow.

"W-well… I had allot, so much I had to finish it this morning."

I rolled my eyes. "Right. I completely believe you."

"Hey! I deserve to spend my weekends having fun. I get it all done eventually."

"True enough. But I just don't know why you always save your math homework for last. It's always the most interesting part."

She looked completely baffled.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again. You're completely crazy."

"But-! "

She just shook her head.

"Math people."

_R-RING_

The first warning bell for the start of the day went off. People started to trickle into the classroom and Rachel wandered back to her seat. I started flipping through my notes to hopefully cram a bit more vocab into my brain.

…

We parted our ways after or first hour class and I drifted through second and third. Afterwards though, it was finally my favorite time of the day, Lunch.

The school lunchroom is like the school itself; bland and uninteresting. It's a pretty wide open space with long rectangular tables stretching end to end. One side of the wall had a couple of windows near the top, but it basically feels like a bunker.

I walked to my usual place, a corner we had claimed for ourselves. A person waved over for me to come and sit down.

My friends look like perfectly sane, normal people on the outside, but when you get us all together it's quite the experience.

I sat down in one of the stools at a table with a couple people already sitting down. Rachel was sitting across from me, my other friend Ada was next to her.

Ada was a relatively quiet person with short black hair that was usually swept back behind her ears. She tended to spend allot of her time on her phone. I once asked her what she was always doing, and she had responded to me with her eyes glittering, "Fanfiction."

Our little corner of the lunch room had two large tables pushed into an 'L' shape together with enough room to sit about twenty people. We usually filled it up pretty well. People tended to come and go, table hopping as they pleased.

Several more people came sat down. Some of them I didn't know very well, but they were still friends either way.

I felt a hand tap me on my shoulder.

"Boo."

Rachel tossed a napkin over my head.

"Go away ghost!"

You could barely hear the sound of the napkin making impact.

"Hey! I wasn't trying to scare _you_!"

I turned around. As I expected it was my other good friend Eli. He was smirking slightly as he brushed the napkin off of his shirt. He had short dirty blond hair with bangs that touched right above his hazel eyes.

As long as I can remember the two of us have known each other. We met in elementary school and had become fast friends. I guess you could even say he was my best friend. He was the kind of person who was always up for the next exciting thing, and could be really mischievous if he wanted to be. Sometimes though I wished I could be a bit more like him, and other times I thanked the Lord I wasn't.

Eli scooted into the seat next to me, pulling out his lunch and started to eat. The four of us ended up talking for a while as more and people trickled in.

Soon most of the seats were filled. This is when our usual lunch hour really started. To my right sat the people who loved to sit and around debate politics. I don't think they were even capable of talking about anything else with one another. On my left sat the people who constantly talked about the most random stuff. It varied from several people randomly breaking into song, fandom discussions, video games, and just about any random topic that came to mind.

Seemingly on cue one of the guys sitting on my left side named Jacob took out his guitar and started strumming it. You couldn't hear is very well though over a very heated discussion of the show Sherlock that had just started.

I turned to them, slightly annoyed.

"You know guys; it doesn't really matter since you're going to have to wait two years for a new episode anyway."

One of them pouted with a less than serious expression.

"Kay, you're such a dream crusher!"

I shrugged.

"I prefer the term 'realist'."

She laughed.

"Well whatever. This is what we have fanfiction for!"

The rest of them gleefully agreed.

What's with this obsession over fanfiction anyway?

...

Lunch ended pretty uneventfully and I went and sat through my fourth and fifth hour classes. My last hour class was Japanese 1, which I hoped my cramming would pay off in.

The class room was pretty plain, but there were several posters on the wall like a map of Japan and a poster including some sort of stylized animal. I wandered over to my seat taking a good last look at my notes. The rest of my classmates were doing the same thing, some though were discussing the shows they were watching.

"Are you sure Natsu is a girl's name?"

"Pretty sure."

"Well I guess he does have pink hair…"

Another person chimed in.

"I think it could either a guy's or a girl's."

A person shouted across the room.

"I totally ship Natsu and Lucy!"

After being in this class so far this year I got the distinct feeling that I was about the only one who took it not based off of an interest of anime and manga. I chose it because I was sick and tired of French and wanted to try something new.

Someone else also called over.

"No way! It's Natsu and Gray!"

_R-RING!_

The class bell rang and the tests were swiftly handed out and people headed back to their seats. As I flipped through the pages I let out a sigh of relief. It was actually pretty easy looking. I guess I did all of that studying for nothing…

…

The school day ended and I headed towards my bus, trying not the get run down in the busy hallway.

Now that the day was over I finally had some time to think.

That dream I had… It still left me feeling uneasy. There was something some familiar I saw in it, but I just couldn't remember what it was from.

I decided to just shrug it off. It was only one strange dream. It probably meant nothing anyway.

At least I hoped so.

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><p>AN: My first chapter completed! I think I have a whole new appreciation for writers now.<p> 


	3. Lucid Dreaming

I found myself opening my eyes once again. This time though when I looked out there seemed to be trees overhead. The night sky was leaking through the large branches.

I sighed. Unless I've developed a problem with sleep walking, I'm dreaming again.

The past few days my dreams had been pretty normal. Nothing in particular was out of the ordinary. This dream however felt different. It was the same type of feeling as the one about the hospital. I wasn't exactly sure how to describe it, but one way to put it was everything seemed more vibrant and realistic.

I did a bit of research on dreams and sleep, and the conclusion I came to was that I was probably actually lucid dreaming. That made me jump for joy. I could control my dreams and do basically whatever I wanted in them then!

I sat up, or at least I tried to. My whole body was stuck. I tried to wriggle out of whatever it was, only to find out that I was in some sort of sleeping bag type thing. The only thing exposed was my head.

I felt around on the inside of it soon finding a zipper. I strategically bended my arms to unzip it and got myself free. I started to sit up a bit uncomfortably.

Alrighty then, time to go on an adventure-

Crap.

Several people were sleeping all around me. In fact, I was in the dead center of their sleeping circle. The campsite had the remnants of a burnt out fire and besides the four full sleeping spots there was one empty. In the dark I couldn't really make out the people around me, but I could see the form of someone leaning again a tree a little ways away.

Well, this is was no problem. If I was really lucid dreaming I should be able to get away easily. I slipped completely out of the sleeping bag, careful not to make any noise.

Ok, dream, let's go flying!

I jumped in the air.

And… nothing happened.

I was a little annoyed.

Maybe lucid dreaming didn't work how I thought it did after all. It seemed to be kind of lame. My spontaneous jumping though didn't go without notice. The figure by the tree started moving closer.

I wondered what I should do. Should I run, or should I stay? I was planning to go off and test my lucid dreaming capabilities, but that seemed like it would be a no go. Well then, might as well stick around and see what was going on.

The person was moving ridiculously slow. I thought I should speed them up a bit.

I waved to them, shouting.

"Hey random person over there! Can your hurry it up please?"

This actually caused them to freeze in place instead.

"…"

"Anata wa dare desu ka?"

More Japanese? I had hoped that it would be a onetime thing.

I wondered what to respond. I knew 'Anata' meant you, and 'dare' meant who, so they were asking me who I was.

What should I say though? Should tell them my real name, or just make something up instead? I thought it over for a moment.

"Watashi wa Mako desu."

I vaguely remembered being called that from my last strange dream. This seemed to somehow be the correct answer because they continued walking again, and the rest of the people who I thought were sleeping all got up from their places. I wondered why they were pretending to be sleeping. Did they think I was some sort of threat?

I finally got a good look at the people around me. They all seemed to be in their late twenties or early thirties. There were three men and two women in the group. There was one guy with grey hair and a mask, another with brown hair and sunglasses, and a third who had spiky blue hair. These three all were wearing a similar outfit with green vests and some sort of forehead protector. Both of the women were dressed similarly and one had had long purple hair. The person other had short black hair.

Some of them looked more shocked than others to see me, but in general they kept a cool demeanor.

I felt a bit entitled to know their names since they apparently already knew mine. I ended up tossing back their question to them.

"Anata wa dare desu ka?"

The guy with blue hair seemed to shift back and forth uncomfortably. They were all silent for a moment before the mask guy answered me.

Most of what he said I couldn't understand.

I just kind of stared blankly at him. I had to at least let these people know I didn't know the language very well.

"Sukoshi nihongo o hanashimasu."

I wasn't sure if I got the grammar correct, but it seemed that they got the gist of what I was trying to say. They didn't seem very happy about it either.

The mask guy paused for a moment before speaking again.

"Konohagakure."

Who?

"Dare?"

This question seemed to give most of the people standing there a heart attack. The blue haired guy literally fell over.

I kind of just stood there hoping for some kind of elaboration, but none came. Once the blue haired guy finally got off of the ground he turned to the person with purple hair and started what sounded like complaining. He kept pointing at me while she sternly spoke to him. The others just stood around kind of awkwardly.

Well, as riveting as the dream conversation had been, I was ready to walk away. The trees could possibly be interesting if I looked close enough.

I walked a few paces toward a small clearing, waving over my shoulder.

"Sayonara."

I didn't get too far though before the sunglasses guy flashed in front of me. Yup flashed. He just somehow appeared. Dream logic.

I tried to move to the left and right of him, but the guy kept moving to block me. This was getting frustratingly annoying.

I then decided to break a run for it. My plan was to use a burst of energy to break through, and then use a zigzag formation the rest of the way.

Well, I at least tried. The moment I stepped forward my vision started to fade to black once again.

Can people in my dreams please stop knocking me unconscious?

* * *

><p>AN: This was kind of a meh chapter for me. I had another idea for how it was going to go, but I ended of scrapping it and starting over. This way I'll hopefully get the plot rolling a bit faster.<p>

And in case anyone was curious, here is what 'Sukoshi nihongo o hanashimasu' means.

Sukoshi: A little

Nihongo: Japanese Language

Hanashimasu: To Speak

O: A marker used in a sentence


	4. Outside Reading

After a long day of being educated, and with a quick bus ride later, I arrived back home.

I live in an ordinary looking two story home. It's located in one of those housing communities that no one actually knows about, that is until they see the sign for it poking out from behind over grown bushes. There were no perks for living in our neighborhood either. Like allot of homes mine is a plain beige built in a ranch style. I think at one time this was a cookie-cutter neighbor hood, but over time additions were made and people realized how much they liked color.

I headed up the driveway and stepped onto our little porch we had at the front of the house. There wasn't much room for anything besides a dying plant and an old chair in the little space, but not much time was spent sitting here anyway.

After pulling out my key from my backpack and unlocking the door, I dumped off my bag by the stairwell and headed upstairs to my room.

I sat down in my lovely swivel desk chair and started to boot up my laptop. There was something I had been wanting to look up. A few minutes later I found myself entering my go to website to find any and all information. Good old Google. I couldn't imagine my life without it.

I entered the one word that had been swimming around in my head all day, 'konogakuru'.

A ridiculous amount of results popped up and I ended up clicking on the first one that caught my eye. It was for a website called Narutopedia. The first page gave me all the information I wanted to know. It seemed that Konogakuru was another word for 'The Village Hidden in the Leaves'. This I actually recognized. I stared skimming the description and realized that this was from an anime I had seen a handful of episodes of a while back. It was centered around a boy named Naruto who lived in a ninja village. I had watched the English version with my sister, and during the whole time I couldn't get over how people kept mispronouncing his name. Every time I heard 'Narudo' I couldn't help but cringe.

The show fell for me under the 'stupid' category. The plot in a show about ninjas was just really about a dumb love triangle with twelve year old kids. No thanks, I'll pass on that. After the episode where they got their first big mission I mentally checked out, not caring enough to keep watching.

I guess I must have secretly really liked it though for it to keep invading my dreams like this. The people I saw must have been ninja from the story then.

I was curious so I searched the website for the different characters. It seemed there were different ninja ranks that ranged from Genin to Jounin, or ANBU I guess if you wanted to get technical. The leader of the village was called the Hokage, and the most powerful of them all.

I was able to find profile of the masked guy. His name was Kakashi Hatake and he was apparently the Sensei of the main character. He started to look more familiar the longer I stared at his picture. It seemed he was a pretty high ranking ninja, Jounin level and former ANBU.

Out of curiosity I started searching for the other people in my dreams. The blond woman was named Tsunade and she was eventually going to become Hokage in the story. Another crazy strong person.

Some on the other ninja included a medical ninja named Shizune who was Tsunade's right hand woman, and an ANBU named Yugo. The others I couldn't seem to find.

I decided to search for one last thing. I typed in the name 'Mako' into the search bar of the website, nervous about the results.

There were none. I wasn't sure whether to be happy about that or not.

…

Admittedly after reading through the wiki page my interest was piqued. It seemed it was about more than romance after all. Because of that I went next door to my sister's room. I grabbed the first couple Naruto volumes off of the shelf and plopped myself down on her bed to read.

Once I got a couple volumes in I found myself interested. The land of Waves ark was so-so, but the chakra system seemed kinda cool. The characters besides Kakashi made me want to punch then in the face. Sakura seemed useless so far in the story, Sasuke had some emo phase going on, and Naruto was the type of character that you should never feed candy.

I looked up a justu hand sign chart and started attempting to do them myself. Soon I learned that fingers are really not meant to bend in certain directions.

Continuing on, the Chunin exams were what really got me hooked. A Ton of new characters were thrown in my face with subplots galore. The international politics part was especially interesting to me. It made me really wonder what the other ninja villages in ninjaland were like. Even though Gaara was clearly psychotic, and Temari and Kankuro weren't exactly rainbows and sunshine, The Hidden Sand Village seemed like the place I would want to live in the Naruto world. True it might be unstable and have tons of political upheaval, but that's not what really mattered.

I would go there for the weather. It would always be warm; well at least during the day, and I would never have to deal with snow again. A dream come true!

…

At lunch the next day I sat among my friends eating like normal. Everyone was being their usual selves and messing around.

I took another bite of my sandwich.

"So guys, I have something to admit."

Rachel, Ada, and Eli all looked at me with slightly apprehensive yet curious expressions.

"So, what is it?"

"Yeah tell us!"

"You robbed a bank?"

"No, Kay would never do that."

"I agree with Ada. Kay's more of the undercover type. Maybe she's secretly an assassin."

"You two clearly don't know her as well as I do. When she wants to she can act completely impulsively, like robbing a bank for example!"

"I don't believe you. Our little schemer rob a bank? Maybe so, but I'm sure it's for a reason, like undercover assassin work!

"Uh, guys-"

"Why don't you two just compromise and say she is secretly from another planet?"

"That's a whole different thing."

"Not even close."

"Guys! I'm none of those things."

I pretended taking offense from being insulted.

"In actuality I'm secretly an Academy Award winning actress who went undercover at a high school to find herself after succumbing to a crippling drug addiction. Get it right!"

We took a moment to laugh at ourselves. There never seemed to be a serious moment between the four of us. I regained my composure before speaking once again.

"What I was going to say that I actually started reading a manga."

Ada's eyes grew huge.

"Tell me tell me tell me! What series is it?"

"It's called Naruto."

A giant smile appeared on her face.

"Hey, does anyone have a pen on them?"

Someone away down the table called over.

"Here you go, catch!"

The pen was tossed though the air, hitting Rachel smack dab in the face.

"Ow…"

"Sorry! Are you ok?"

"I think I have massive internal bleeding."

"…"

Ada quickly reached over for the pen after it ricocheted and rolled onto the table. She pointed towards me.

"Hand."

"Uh, ok…?"

I gingerly stretched my hand towards her but it was quickly grabbed it and jerked it closer. Ada took no time uncapping the pen and furiously scribbling something on my skin. I pulled my hand back once she was done and started to read what she wrote.

"The Akatsuki's Kawaii Kawaii Summer Beach Party…?"

"Go look it up and read it! It's one of the greatest things ever!"

"But who are the Akastuki exactly? I don't think I've gotten that far yet. I've only read up to the Chunin exams."

"It doesn't matter! Just go read it!"

"Alright…"

That sparkle in her eye scared me a little bit. I didn't know much about fanfiction, but it was probably true enough to the characters.

* * *

><p>AN: Kay is finally learning about the world of Naruto! I should really go back and reread it all myself for a refresher...<p> 


	5. Martial Arts Mastery

_TAK_

It was a strange sound I kept hearing with a small time of silence between each repetition. I cracked my eyes to see that this time I was moving at blinding speeds.

Good God. How many times has it been now?! And why do I have to keep opening my eyes when I'm already asleep?!

Unless I was sleep walking within my own dream, someone or some_thing_ was taking me along for a ride. Opening my eyes a little further I saw that I was being carried princess style in someone's arms.

I'm being kidnapped aren't I? Quickly I shut my eyes to try and avoid be noticed.

My first reaction to this situation of course, was to hone in on my two months of kung fu classes and punch my captor in the face.

I quickly turned to the person, sending my fist flying into the nose of some guy with blue hair.

…And a Konoha headband.

Whoops.

My punch actually hit its mark, but I'm sure it was only because I had the element of surprise on my side. When he saw it coming he flashed a look of shock, and then it rapidly changed pain as soon as it collided, causing his nose make a loud crunching sound.

I was really impressed with myself! I actually had the strength to break someone's nose! Hazah! But then again, I had just assaulted a probable ally. The least I could do would be apologizing.

"Sumimasen!"

He just glared at me, blood dripping down his face.

Should probably ask if he's ok too…

"Ogenki desu ka?"

His only reaction was just continuing to glare. Well, in the other dream I had he didn't seem to like me much either. Ignoring the blood, I finally got a closer look at him. His light blue hair was cut short and spiked it out in various directions, a headband tied loosely around his neck. His eyes were a similar blue color to his hair, but in a bit darker shade. He looked about in his early twenties; probably high ranking too like the rest of the notable group members.

Wait a second. Were the rest of the people even here? I twisted my head around, spotting the back of someone running a bit of the way in front of us.

Ok, good it's not just us. I mean, at least I'm pretty that it was a good thing.

My dream this time didn't change as drastically. It was still with same people, but the location was different.

Now that I thought about it, this didn't look like the ground…

The ninja had apparently stopped running after I mangled his face, and we were now stopped on what looked like… My eyes wandered downwards.

A giant tree branch?! We were ridiculously high up.

"AH! Tree!"

"I mean uh, AH! Ki!"

The blue haired guy's expression went from completely furious, to slightly smirking. He set me down from his arms, placing me lean against the trunk of the tree. Quickly he brought hand up to his face, a green aura surrounding it and rapidly mending the broken nose.

I just sat there in awe. This must be medical ninjutsu then. If only I could use it in the real world; then I could make mill- help lots of people.

At look a little while for his nose to heal all the way, but once he was done and the blood wiped off, he motioned for me to climb back into his arms.

If it wasn't for the fact that I was in a tree, with most likely no idea how to down; and that he was a Konoha ninja, I probably run off by now. Dream or not, I wasn't exactly going to trust random people, especially ones with a pretty good reason to hate me.

The guy continued to motion for me to come forward, but I wasn't going to go just yet.

"Iie."

The astounding no caused his eye to start twitching, an eerie smile spreading across his face.

Don't want to make him too angry…

He stared stepping towards me, planning on picking me up by force.

Wait!

"Matte Kudasai!"

He paused, starting to look even more pissed off.

First off, I wanted to know this guy's name. It's not like I could keep calling him 'the blue haired guy' forever.

"Anata no namae wa nan desu ka?"

He gritted his teeth together before slowly replying.

"Sanu Daichi."

Daichi huh? That wasn't a name I recognized. I pondered it for a moment before deciding what to ask next.

There was still another question I wanted answers to.

"Doko ni iteimasu ka?"

Where are we going?

There was a long silent pause. He was probably trying to figure out what to tell me that I could understand with my limited vocabulary.

He pointed towards himself.

"Boku wa anata no nakama desu."

Nakama meant comrade or friend if I wasn't mistaken. It wasn't very reassuring sounding though coming from a guy who was quickly losing patience.

He was a leaf ninja, and still hadn't murdered me for my insolence. Trustworthy enough I guess, though he did just dodge that last question

Deciding I was finally done with Q and A, Daichi this time turned away from me, crouching down near the ground. He motioned for me to grab on.

It looks like I'm getting a piggy back ride.

Once we were all situated and ready to go, Daichi jumped off the branch, and we were leaping through the forest once again. I made sure to hold on as tight as I possibly could, which meant accidentally strangling him a couple times.

It was truly exhilarating though; moving through the air so fast. The wind in my face, trees flashing by. Things like this are what make dreams so great. Here you could experience all of the cool things you would never get to do, or ever be capable of doing.

…

We had been traveling for some time, finally getting the person in front of us back in our sights. Hopping through like this was actually quite relaxing once you got used to it.

After a little while vision suddenly began to blur and I tried rubbing my eyes with one of my hands. It only seemed to make it worse though, my head now starting to throb.

Next I tried to rest my head on Daichi's shoulder, but the pain didn't subside.

I quickly jerked my head up instead, the forest now spinning before my eyes.

What was going on?

My limbs suddenly went slack, my grip becoming looser.

No! Not this feeling again!

My body was slowly tipping backwards, arms drooping down to my sides.

Why does it always end like this?

And just like that, I passed out once again.

* * *

><p>AN: Well, that was my first ever attempt at writing someone passing out. It needs a bit of work.<p>

In case anyone is wondering, Kay won't keep falling unconscious for much longer.


	6. Obsessions

Mmm. Five more minutes please…

I shut my eyes tightly, trying to ignore the light shining down onto my face. Rolling over on my side I gripped the covers tightly, hoping to avoid waking up for as long as possible.

After a long while I finally admitted defeat, whipping my sheets off, which in the process sent the Naruto volumes I had been reading late into night flying off through the air.

Ugh. I'm so tired. Why did I do that to myself?

In Shippuden things started to get really interesting; and for some reason I just couldn't stop reading.

I wondered what time it was anyway. My alarm hadn't gone off yet, so it must be up pretty early.

I shifted my body to get a look at the clock's screen.

11:30?!

I placed my face in my hands and started to moan. I had overslept and in the process missed my bus. It was too far to walk there, and on top of that my parents weren't going to be too happy with me.

I sighed. Not much I could do about it now I suppose.

My stomach started the grumble and I began to feel some hunger pangs. I guess I had missed breakfast and now nearly lunch.

I descended down the stairs, heading over to the kitchen.

I wonded what there is to eat at the moment. I guess worse case scenario I could snack on some cereal.

I turned the corner, and to my surprise there was someone sitting at the kitchen table typing away on a laptop.

"Mom?"

She looked up from the screen smiling brightly towards me.

"Ah, good sweetie. I'm glad you're finally up. I was starting to get worried!"

She waved for me to come over. I headed to her, taking the chair directly across from where she was sitting.

My mom is a kind but stern person; which I guess you would have to be to work in the business world like she does. Her dirty blond hair was tied up in a lose bun, and had make up perfect as usual to suit her dark blue eyes; which I happily inherited myself. She was dressed in her work attire, tat was always magnificently color coordinated.

I started to rub my eyes.

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

She sighed.

"Oh believe me, I tried. You must have been dead tired. Nothing I did would work."

"Oh, really? I guess I was."

She stared at me knowingly, her expression turning more serious.

"No staying up late anymore alright? I look the day off to make sure you were ok, but this can't keep happening. I have a job to go to and I can't keep babysitting you when you're already in high school."

I gulped.

"Yes Ma'am. "

"I don't want you to turn into your sister by getting carried away with this new hobby of yours. Hopefully she's been laying off of it since she's been in school, but I'm not so sure."

Out of the two of my parents my Dad was definitely the more lenient one. My Mom was always advocating for us to use our time more wisely. It was always to her definition of wisely though.

"Ok Mom, I got it."

"Good. Now, you should go grab yourself something eat. There are a couple of things in the fridge."

I nodded, getting up to take something.

"I think I'm going to eat in my room."

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Of course! I'm just going to nap a bit more."

I really needed to know what would happen next. Would Gaara live or die? This was a very pressing issue.

…

Ok, good. It all worked out in the end. I really did have a soft spot for Granny Chiho though.

I took another bite if my sandwich.

This was getting really good. I never would have believed the characters could have changed so much. Gaara actually became sane! Naruto became bearable! Sakura did something!

I flipped to the next page, trying to stifle a yawn.

Maybe it was for the best I actually take a nap. I've practically got the day off now anyway. A few more hours of sleep couldn't hurt.

After setting the book down on my side table, I crawled back into bed, pulling up my covers. My eyelids started to droop and I slowly drifted off to blissful sleep.

* * *

><p>AN: Not really happened in this one. It was mostly filler in a way.<p>

Next chapter the plot really begins! I'm excited to write it.


	7. Escape Artistry

This really had been a nice nap, but it was about time for me to get up already. I hadn't even finished eating my food yet. Plus I had to actually get around to figuring out what I missed at school.

I sat up, or least tried to. Apparently I was already sitting in a chair. Tied to it in fact.

Oh crap.

Clearly this was a dream, unless I for no apparent reason was taken out of my home with witnesses around.

The room I was being kept in was a pretty large open space. Judging by the walls, it looked like it must have been carved out of a cave; a few sculpted pillars around the area. Sconces lit up the room to a dim glow, making it all the more eerie.

The biggest thing I noticed though were faint black markings all across the floor and walls. I glanced up at the ceiling. Even there too. Did the last person who was in here go slowly crazy, prompting them to draw all over everything?

I wasn't too eager to find out why that could possibly be.

My arms had been tied down to arm rests with a thick rope, my main body also held in place by rope to the back of the chair. However, no one had bothered to do anything about my legs.

Looks like I might be able to get out of here after all.

The chair itself was pretty normal. It was made out of some type of wood, pretty plain without any ornate detailing.I tried to skid it across the floor by pushing with my legs, and it luckily moved.

So in conclusion, I had my legs free and the chair wasn't bolted down. I tried to pull against the ropes just for good measure.

Yeah… I wasn't going to get out of them with brute strength anytime soon.

Maybe if I tried ramming the chair against the wall it would break. It could possibly work, or horribly fail. I would probably give myself some more head trauma. My dreams had enough of that already.

Then again, hasn't this scenario been played out in about a bajillion movies before? One way was always to get up on your feet while still being tied up to the chair. That way you could rush your enemy and crash into them, breaking whatever you were attached to in the process. At least that's how I recall James Bond doing it. Or maybe it was someone else. Pretty much every big action movie seemed to have a scene like this.

Either way, I might as well try it.

I leaned forward a bit, giving my feet a better grip on the floor. I continued lean until my legs were fully standing, my top half awkwardly hunched over.

OW ow ow ow ow

This was actually pretty painful! I would have never guessed that a chair would have been so heavy. I'm not the most athletic person out there, but I swore I was stronger than this.

I walked a few paces, pathetically struggling along the way. It seemed the door to get out of here I had my back to before. Cautiously I turned the knob, my hands barely reaching it.

The door was unlocked!

I slowly opened it, trying not to knock into it with the chair in the process. Outside of the room was a hallway that split in three different directions. I could either keep going straight or head to my left or right.

Might as well go straight then.

I continued on for a little while, until the hallway turned into a gigantic room, or more accurately a cavern.

It was freaking huge. The empty cavern had a vaulted ceiling look, areas finely sculpted for support and what can only describe as almost an ancient looking throne room, mixed with a Japanese flair. Though most of the area was level and smoothed down, there was an area that had a slightly elevated platform adorned with intricate pillows. Besides that however, there was no furniture in sight.

I was curious though, and though I had the weight of the chair on me, I somehow kept trudging along. Even though ramming the chair against something to break it seemed like a bad idea, it was starting to be a little tempting.

I started to look a bit more, trying to find the best place to try it out, until I hear a stern voice filling the room.

I froze.

Who said that?

Doing a full three sixty, I turned around to find the source. No one was near the place I headed here from, no one around that corner or that one either.

Dream logic?

I glanced around once again.

What the…?

Sitting on top of the pillows was an old woman wearing a simple purple kimono. She was quite short; her white hair and wrinkled skin showing her age. Harmless looking enough, but there was something different about her though; a certain feeling you don't get from your average elderly person.

She said something once again that I absolutely did understand a single word of. Was it Japanese like it usually was? I couldn't quite tell.

I just stood there as she stared me straight in the eyes.

Kind of creepy if you ask me.

Before I could muster a single syllable, two women appeared on either side of her. They looked very similar to one another, their black hair styled into two buns with short bangs, both wearing brightly colored kimonos.

The three remained in place, the old woman still talking away.

What was I supposed to do now? I guess I could go attempt to communicate with them, but what if they were the ones who kidnapped me? Shouldn't I be running away then?

There were still two unchecked hallways. There had to be an exit around here somewhere.

I turned around heading back.

Taking another step forward, something flashed into front of me, and before I knew it I had been tipped back into a sitting position.

What? Who?

A familiar grey haired, mask wearing ninja just stood there with an orange book in hair. He raised an eyebrow in what I could guess was a questioning look.

"Mako-san."

I couldn't help but groan. All of these Naruto based dreams tended to end the same way.

Kakashi gripped the back my chair, telling me something with what I could only assume was a smile under his mask.

I started to brace myself. Well, here it comes…

To my complete and utter shock, instead of being immediately knocked unconscious, I was instead dragged back down the hallway towards the room I had been held in.

I probably should have been kicking and screaming, or fighting back in some way; but instead I was just so dumbfounded by the situation that I went along without a word of protest.

…

Well, isn't this cozy. The entire gang is back together.

I was sitting in the center of the room legs now tied, joined by the Konoha ninja and the old woman with her assistants.

They talked back and forth for bit, though it was mostly Shizune and Kakashi who seemed to asking questions while the assistants replied. I could pick up a couple of words here and there, but nothing I could try and piece together.

The worst part of all though was the old woman's constant and uncomfortable stare.

Eventually she stopped though, turning to her assistants who in turn took out some sort of scrolls. They were set on the ground and unrolled to form an 'x' in which a brush and inks appeared with a cloud of smoke.

Summoning scrolls for ink? It must be pretty important then. That or it explains where they keep all of their furniture.

To my dismay, the assistants picked up the supplies and headed over to me with it. The old woman took the brush, dipped it in the ink and began writing some more of those marks on the floor. The more I looked at the marks, the quicker I realized that there were several rings of markings around where I was sitting.

The ink, the markings, being in circle…

No way, they couldn't be trying to seal something… could they?

But why would they need to seal something in the first place? At glanced at each of the ninjas. They kept neutral expression the entire time.

Ugh, I can't just sit here doing nothing! I need to at least try and talk to them.

The old lady had just finished writing on the floor, and now started writing some markings on my side. This also led me to realize the only thing I was wearing on my top half were some bandages wrapped around me.

Awkward.

I tried to struggle against the ropes, but the assistant's strong grip and cold eyes stopped me in place.

Wait!

"Matte Kudasai!"

I was completely ignored.

"Look you crazy people, let me go! I don't know what you think you're trying to do, but stop it!"

Even less of a reaction from that.

I probably should have kept a more level head in the situation, but for some reason I just couldn't think straight. My heart kept pounding against my chest, my palms growing sweaty.

Just a dream.

It's only a dream.

It's not real.

None of this is real.

I'll wake up soon and this will all be over.

It's Ok.

It's alright.

I kept thinking back to the scene where Kakashi sealed Sasuke's curse seal. He ended up in the hospital for quite some time afterwards.

The old woman stood back, probably to admire her handiwork.

If she was going to do something, she should do it already. This waiting is starting to kill me.

Before I could search my brain for the words to tell her so, a hand came slamming down on my side, sending some sort of energy through me, chakra most likely.

It burned like nothing I had ever felt before, filling my every pore with searing pain.

Was I screaming? I couldn't tell. All I could focus on was the burning.

I could feel myself slowly slipping into unconsciousness.

Good. Now I can finally wake up from this nightmare.

* * *

><p>AN: Well, I guess you could say this is my first sort of serious chapter so far. Not sure if I quite pulled it off, but I tried spending extra time working on it.<p> 


	8. Denial

"Time to get up already."

I must have been asleep for a while for my Dad to have come home already. He usually came home in time to eat dinner around six-thirty or so. Yes, naps are very nice things.

"I'll be down in a couple of minutes."

There was no reply, so I took it for a yes. I should try and get a couple more minutes if I could. My last dream wasn't restful at all.

I closed my eyes, about to nod off again.

A hand roughly shook my shoulder.

"Just give a couple more minutes Dad."

"… I'm not your Dad."

_What?_

I sprung up from my sleeping position to come face to face with the blue haired ninja Daichi. He looked back at me with great annoyance, while all I could do was stare back at him, my mouth dropping to the floor.

"H-how am I still asleep?"

"Well you aren't anymore."

That's not what I-

"Wait a second. How can you understand me?"

He just shrugged.

"The old lady used some type of seal. I'm no expert, so don't go around asking me for any more details."

Well, this Daichi guy was absolutely charming. Not that I gave him many reasons to like me in the first place.

"I really am sorry about punching your face back there. I thought you we kidnapping me. Well… I guess I was actually right about that after all."

This just caused him to face palm.

"Were not- That's not- Ah, just forget it. I'll leave to explanations up to everyone else."

He walked over to the door on the other side of the tiny room, which I noticed only contained the bed I was laying in and a chair.

"Can you stand? I was ordered to bring you to the main hall immediately after you woke up."

I got out of the bed and stood up on somewhat shaky feet. My side was still killing me, but it was nothing like before. Someone had even bothered to give me decent clothing. Kudos to them.

We silently and briskly walked through a long hallway for some time until taking a sharp turn into the cavern from before.

The old lady and assistants were in their usual places and the others were standing around the area doing various activities. Kakashi was reading his "book", Glasses guy was twirling around a kunai, Yuugo was sharpening her sword, and Shizune was looking through her bags.

They all looked up once we entered, Kakashi nodded towards Daichi, putting his book back inside his pack. The rest followed suit and soon we were all there as a group standing in front of the platform.

One of the assistants gave a deep bow before talking.

"I will translate for my teacher. She does not wish to lower herself to speaking in your tongue."

She bowed once again, the old woman beginning to speak.

"I am from a time before the great Sage of Six Paths, before he spread his ideals spread across the world; a time when there were many different ways of speech. I acquired an ability that granted me long life in order to pursue knowledge."

The Sage of Six Paths… was this someone important? I hadn't gotten far enough in the story to know.

"Once the substance called 'chakra' appeared I spent much of my time observing it, learning to bend it to my will."

Her eyes rested on me.

"That one you claim is from your village, yet doesn't solely speak your tongue. I cannot say I have heard what she speaks before in my lifetime."

I wanted to ask some questions, but the atmosphere seemed too heavy for whatever I had to say. The others were stone still, eyes completely glued on the woman. I felt her words must have carried a lot of weight.

"I used a technique I developed long ago to understand one another easily. It is something you would call a 'seal'."

It couldn't be the giant one on my side. That seemed like complete and utter overkill.

"This child should not be alive. Unless awake, her body contains no spiritual energy."

Spiritual energy… what exactly was that again? Did it have to do with chakra?

I guess this statement was shocking enough that it caused Shizune to cut in.

"But Ma'am, she has been in a constant comatose state for the most of her life!"

"I do not understand this myself, even with my great knowledge. However, I have been able to keep this energy inside of her now. It is a very powerful seal, not able to be broken by many."

Hold on. What exactly were they saying? A coma, possibly death?

"There should be no remaining problems."

This is still a dream right?

A little part of me wanted to accept that this could be real. Maybe I really was inside of the Naruto world. Maybe me waking up still in the dream should prove that fact.

But I wouldn't accept it.

I _couldn't _accept it.

Believing something like this could happen went against all logic in the universe. Irrational. Impossible. Unbelievable. Just because you wrote a story about something didn't make it come true.

"So what you're saying is that I'm stuck here now."

All eyes in the room turned to look at me.

"Your consciousness should remain in this body."

"And this is all real?"

"Yes."

"…"

"I don't believe you."

This caused her to look taken aback.

"You- don't believe me?"

"Nope."

Everyone went dead silent. I could feel their stares boring into me, probably questioning my sanity level. Maybe it was for the best I did some not completely lying elaboration.

"Look, up until now this has all been like a dream. Unless I see some concrete proof I refuse to believe a word of it."

It was probably for the best that I saved the fact I was from a different world for another day.

This seemed to cause everyone to relax a bit, the old woman regaining her composure.

"Then it would be best for you to become reacquainted with your home."

She looked towards Kakashi.

"I have done what was promised. Return and tell Tsunade that she has used up all remaining favors that I owe her."

…

Taking this as a cue to leave, we all exited the room and headed down one of the hallways until we arrived at a towering door carved out of solid stone.

After the glasses guy preformed some sort of jutsu, it slowly creaked open to reveal a lush forest, trees towering over everything. It turned out that we in fact, were inside of a mountain this entire time.

The ninja set out to leave again, and I received another piggy back ride.

Daichi spoke to me again.

"It'll take us a couple weeks to get back to the village. There are some crazy animals here, so don't make any noise."

I nodded. Maybe I could trust these guys enough to go with them. And hey! They still hadn't given me a chance to ask a single question!

We set off, leaping through the tree branches.

There was one thing though that kept gnawing at me from the back of my mind.

If this was real,

Then would that make Masashi Kishimoto God?

* * *

><p>AN: I'm not sure how well I did with the pacing here. My first version of this I kind of just threw all of the information in your face. This time I tried to make it a bit more dramatic.<p>

Side Note: I think I may have just created a ridiculously OP character...


	9. Discoveries

For a long time I had been wondering why it was necessary to be surrounded by such high ranking ninja. I mean sure, the person we visited was probably pretty important, but several Jonin and an Anbu? Couldn't they just use Chunin, or heck even a team with Genin, since that's what the leaf seemed to send out for anything of relative importance.

Once we started heading away was when I finally realized why.

To image what to the monsters in the forest were like, take everything you can remember from the Chunin exams, pump it full of steroids, and then grow it a hundred times in size.

So in conclusion, I was basically dead without them.

It took us a long time just to get out of the forest; which meant little time spent sleeping and definitely none talking. They used their ninja sign language to communicate, and I picked up the meaning of a signal here and there.

I thought it was the most ridiculous thing to be so quiet, but being a little too loud setting up camp one day caused _something_ to come rampaging after us.

Oh the horror…

When we finally exited the area with most dangers out of sight, I finally got the chance to get some answers to some very pertinent questions, such as:

"Why did you guys knock me unconscious?"

It was the sunglasses guy who answered, retaining his completely blank expression.

"Flight risk."

Flight risk? That's totally ridiculous! I've never tried to-

He might have a point.

"Then why did you tie me up?"

"Flight risk."

"..."

…

We continued on for a while through the countryside. I never really thought about it before, but the Naruto world is actually kind of pretty. There's just something really cool about seeing rice patties lining the fields in a world without cars at every location.

We ended up stopping at small village along the way to eat, finally giving us all a chance to take a small break. There really is only so long you can stand being given a piggy back ride for. We decided to head out towards a small little restaurant within the city to eat at.

We walked around through the market for a little while, and for the first time I got a good look at my appearance.

What was reflected back at me from a mirror in one of the stalls made tears instantly start to form in my eyes. I could feel the wetness slowly begin to fall down my cheeks.

Seeing me like this made Yuugo and Shizune stop dead in their tracks. Shizune being the more motherly of the two; had a look of surprise and worry quickly appear on her face.

"Mako-san, are you alright?"

I could barely contain myself sobbing.

"I-It's m-my hair."

Yuugo looked at me quizzically.

"I know it's a bit uneven now, but that can easily be fixed."

I quickly tried to rub the tears from my eyes.

"N-No. You don't understand. I-It's green!"

"I don't see the problem."

My now shaky knees gave way, and I was full out breaking down.

"I'M A FREAK OF NATURE!"

Shizune tried to comfort me my lightly patting my shoulder though she seemed like she really didn't know what for, while Yuugo just stood there with an expression that showed she was clearly unimpressed. The rest of the group had already headed over to the restaurant at the first chance they got.

…

With the whole seal thing I could speak and understand Japanese, but that didn't mean I could actually read anything. In Japanese there are three different types of characters; hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Hiragana is the basic alphabet, katakana is used to write foreign based words, and kanji is basically used in place of words.

The thing is I only know a handful of kanji. This means that menus are not my friends.

I squinted at the text, attempting to magically decipher whatever it said.

Why couldn't there be pretty pictures to look at? Jeez, this establishment needs to better cater to the illiterate.

I ended up just getting dango solely because it was the only food item that came to mind. Dream or not, free food is free food.

We all kind of awkwardly sat down at one of the back tables, eating whatever each of us ordered. I had ended up finally 'officially' learning everyone's names. The one name I didn't know was the sunglasses guy. He plainly told me that is was Kenji Sato. It didn't seem to be a character I recognized.

Because of me stating earlier that I didn't know what a Konohagakure was, Kakashi gave me a quick overview of the village I was from, what it was, what they did, ect. According to him they were on an escort mission in order to get me medical help.

I couldn't help shake the feeling that he was sharing the PC version they told to everyone. I knew that there was way more going on than taking missions to help people and training new ninjas.

This of course was said with his usual laid back attitude and a smile. Something about the whole conversation though just felt _off._ It's a hard feeling to describe, but it was definitely there.

I guess these guys in the end were still ninjas; insanely powerful killers. You don't want to be on their bad side.

We ended our little lunch, my thoughts still drifting back to my hair that was a sin against nature; and we set off once again. This time the destination was The Hidden Leaf Village.

* * *

><p>AN: I wish I could gave gotten this up earlier, but I ended up gone for a couple of days. I was totally on a roll with story ideas at the time, but with no way to write it down...<p>

Anyway, I hope I got the kanji explanation right, but I'm honestly a little unsure how to describe it myself.

I might go back later and edit some things if I remember anything I wanted to add in.


	10. Sharing

The Leaf Village.

Not exactly the place of my dreams, but overall it was pretty nice.

Ah, the buildings; the fusion between Japanese architecture and modern elements. If I had a sketchbook with me I would definitely be drawing some of this out. There is a big difference between seeing something on a page, and seeing it in the third dimension. And who could forget the biggest feature of the village, ninja Mount Rushmore? I wonder what would happen if they ran out of space on that thing.

Currently the group was on its way to see the Hokage.

We passed through the gate without much trouble, and then headed down one of the busy streets. You could see other ninja mixed in with the crowds, but none of them I was able to recognize.

I wondered what part of the story I was currently dreaming about anyway. Was it before Naruto left off on his journey, or after?

I guess I'll have to start fishing for information at some point.

Eventually we came to the Hokage's Residence. Honestly, I wasn't impressed. For the leader that you could consider to be of a country, it wasn't very grand. I don't know, maybe I just expected it to be a bit more White House type impressive, or even just a bit fancier than the average building. It was tall and red though. That's something I think.

We went inside, and after turning through a couple of hallways, and climbing a flight stairs we arrived at the Hokage's office.

It was relatively large; a desk at the front and Tsunade was sitting behind it.

She looked up, eyes darting to each of us before finally resting on me.

"Report."

Kakashi stepped forward, giving her a slight nod.

"Mission completed. There was an enemy encounter during the mission, but the objective was still met."

I hope there was some written report had had to do later, because if I was Hokage I would not be very happy at the extreme vagueness of that statement.

Tsunades' eyes narrowed, seeming to scrutinize the situation.

"Who?"

"Kisame, though we believe it was a chance encounter."

She looked surprised for moment, her expression soon falling back into a critical one.

"I expect a full report later."

So they were talking about Kisame, that freaky fish guy with the giant sword. What was that organization called again?

"Hey, are you guys talking about the Akasuki?"

All eyes turned to me, with a mix of bewilderment, shock, and what looked like killing intent. Sunglasses guy, ehem, I mean Kenji even pulled out a kunai out.

They remained quiet, so I decided that I might as keep talking.

"I can tell you their defining traits, abilities, and random other things if you want."

It's not like this was real. What did it matter if I gave then this information anyway? For all I know they could have it all already.

After another awkward silence finally Tsunade spoke up.

"Who are you?"

I just shrugged.

"My name is Mako as far as I've been told. So, do you guys want me to tell you or not? This free information I'm giving away."

She nodded, a fierce and skeptical look in her eyes.

"Continue."

Now I thought about it, almost all of my knowledge from the Akatsuki was from reading fanfiction. After I went through with reading The Akatsuki's Kawaii Kawaii Beach Party, all Ada did was recommend more Akatsuki fanfiction to me. At this point I'm not even sure what's cannon anymore. Deidara and Sasori were as far as I had gotten in the story.

Here goes nothing…

"Well, starting off with Itachi Uchiha, I mean Uchiha Itachi, his most defining trait is his blindness."

That statement raised a couple of eyebrows.

"It's from over using his Mangekyo Sharingan. He's slowly going blind and is also dying if I'm not mistaken."

Hmm, what else was there to say?

"Oh yeah! Under that cold exterior he is actually a really nice guy! And he's also secretly dating Sakura!"

I swear Tsunade's mouth actually dropped open.

"Well, moving on, Kisame, aka the freaky fish guy, is Itachi's best friend and has a sword that is alive. His sword is also a good friend, if not also the other half of his soul."

Powers next?

"He uses water jutsu and can transform to look like a majestic dolphin."

Wait, was it really a dolphin? Eh, whatever.

"Deidara really loves explosions and loves telling everyone that art is an explosion."

How many times did he say that phrase anyway?

"He has a totally rational hatred of the Sharingan because of his inferiority complex, and has one eye that is trained to resist its effects. Also, his hands have mouths."

The people in the room all had an expression of extreme neutrality.

"Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure he's actually a woman."

That raised a couple of eyebrows.

"Sasori is a puppet freak that actually turned his who body into a puppet. He keeps his heart or whatever it is in a compartment. That's his weak spot by the way."

Hmmm…

"I think those two are a pairing, but I personally think they're actually just friends."

I was totally on a roll now.

"Hidan is an immortal zombie who follows some crazy religion. If you every fight him I suggest trying to destroy the brain. If that doesn't work then just incinerate him somehow. Though he's a scumbag, he somehow has a lot of fan girls who have converted to his religion to be with him."

"Kakazu is Hidan's partner and loves money. He is has several hearts, which according to some sources give him the ability to love others even more. He really loves money."

"Nagato, aka Pein, has multiple bodies which are actually just puppets. He is actually hidden away somewhere and has some crazy eye powers that can bring back the dead. He also has a harem that contains Konan the paper chick and some other people."

I don't think I've spoken this much before to any of these people.

"Tobi is actually the leader of the Akatsuki and is using them in some grand scheme. He acts like a five year old, but is actually pretty smart himself. I'm pretty sure everyone hates him though."

I paused.

"There was something about a moon…"

What was it again? Probably not important.

"And finally, Zestu…"

"…"

"I don't even know."

I ended my little rant, hoping there wasn't anything I missed. I'm sure most of what I said was accurate.

The others looked at me with a mix of astonishment, confusion, and distrust. It seemed that even more people were starting to pull out their weapons.

There was a long silence allowing everyone to digest this new information. Tsunade had her eyes closed, hands clasped on top of one another. She spoke slowly, an edge to her voice.

"How did you come to know this information?"

Uh…

"Intuition?"

* * *

><p>AN: I've been planning to write this chapter for a while now. I tried to cram in as many random Akatsuki stuff as I can think of into this. Some characters are harder than others.<p> 


	11. Musical Talent

AN: Thanks for all of the reviews so far! I'm glad to see that people are enjoying it.

* * *

><p>A jail cell was the one place I thought I'd never find myself in.<p>

My friends and I were never the rebel types, and we weren't stupid enough to go off and get ourselves involved in things like drugs.

Yet here I was because I just spouted off a ton of top secret information. Was it a good idea to do so? I don't really know. Did it really matter what I did either way? I don't know that either.

Maybe it would have been smarter for me to hold off any major proclamations until a better time. I really hate the side of me that likes to act impulsively. I want to be considered intelligent human being, but I make it hard on myself when I do something so potentially stupid.

But that brings me back to the point whether it really matters what I do or not. If none of this is real, then what does it matter if I act rashly?

My eyes drifted along the ceiling, memorizing the lines around the tiles.

The cell I was in was pretty cramped. There was enough room for the cot I was laying on, a toilet in the corner, and a built in table. Water was leaking from the ceiling, the sound of the dripping echoing throughout.

Yup. Five star treatment.

I fair amount of time had passed since I had been dragged in here, food sent in as an afterthought. I hadn't done anything so far besides lay down and stare at the ceiling.

I could try sleeping, but that was something I avoided doing now. It seemed that no matter how many times I tried to go to bed and then wake up from this, I never really woke up. I was always stuck back here.

My inception style dreams weren't even very restful in themselves. That was mostly because I _didn't_ dream.

Some people claim that they never have dreams, but it's not actually true. We all dream, but we might just not remember it. When you really don't dream, all you can see is a black abyss. Nothing happens, and all you can do is watch.

Cautiously, I took a peak at my seal. I covered much of my right side, multiple different swirls and rings making it what it was.

Now that I thought about it, what if it was actually doing something to keep me here after all? It very well could be some sort psychologically induced thing. Maybe if I got rid of it in this world, I'd wake up again in the real one.

This theory seemed reasonable enough. If what the old lady said was true, I'd need a fuunjutsu master to unseal it.

Also, I still didn't know why Tsunade went to the trouble of 'helping' me in the first place. What was I to her exactly? Why would she use up some favor of hers to help me of all people?

I sighed.

At the moment there was nothing I could do about it anyway. I'm pretty sure that my constitutional rights were being violated by being placed in here like this.

What kind of government did Konoha have anyway? I seemed to be a Meritocracy, though I guess you could say it was an Oligarchy-

My thoughts were interrupted by sounds coming from my cell door. I immediately sat up, to see the apprehensive face of a ninja unlocking the door. Once he got it open, he motioned for me to come forward.

I exited, and we walked a little ways down a hallway until arriving at a somewhat intimidating steel enforced door. I was ushered in, and then promptly locked inside.

Where had I been brought now?

The room was pretty large with high ceilings, almost giving it the feeling of being inside a warehouse. Of course it was all grey, the prison color of choice. There were two chairs placed in the center that looked at least slightly more comfortable than if they were made of plastic. A clock was hung up near the door that ticked quite loudly.

Looks like I'm going to interrogated. Wasn't scar-face from the Chunin exams in charge of this type of thing?

No one was here yet, so it seemed that I had more alone time. Though who was to say they weren't watching me?

I quickly scanned the room. No security cameras in sight, but that meant pretty much meant nothing. If there was a jutsu to translate language, there was surely one that could act as a security camera.

I slunk down into one of the chairs, trying to ignore the ticking noise coming from the clock.

Psychological torture.

That's what that Ibiki guy specializes in.

I knew a bit about psychology myself since that's what my sister majored in in college. Whenever she came home, she would enthusiastically share random things she had learned so far. It was actually pretty interesting, and coupled with my summer obsession of watching Discovery and History channel, I knew a bit about the subject.

Even though I had probably been brought here because of my knowledge of the Akastuki, it made me question why I hadn't been brought here the moment I entered the village.

For a person that has apparently been in a coma for most of her life, nothing about me really adds up. I speak another language; I know how to function in society without being told anything about it, and the fact that I don't have brain damage from it in itself was truly a miracle.

…

_TICK TICK TICK_

I swear it was getting louder.

At the same time though, I couldn't help myself from tapping on the offbeat. I used to be in choir, so the constant ticking felt like a metronome. I really liked singing, not that I was particularly that good at it or anything. I was still fun, and it got me into the habit of singing out loud to myself when I was alone.

According to the clock I had been in here for twenty minutes. A ridiculously boring twenty minutes.

I couldn't help but hum out a song that had been stuck in my head for a while, and before I knew it I was singing it out loud.

"_Lean on me, when you're not strong. And I'll be your friend; I'll help you carry on!"_

Of all songs to get stuck in my head… I'll switch it up.

"_And so I wake up in the morning and I step outside, and I take a deep breath real high, and I scream at the top of my lungs, what's goin' on?"_

"_HEEY HEEY HEEY HEEY HEEY HEEY HEEY HEEY I say Hey, what's goin' on?"_

Better, but I basically only know the chorus. How about,

"_Just a small time girl, livin' in a lonely world. She took the midnight train goin' anywhere. Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit! He took the midnight train going anywhere!"_

At some point I found myself up on my feet, sing out as loud as I could.

"_A singer in a Smokey room, the smell of wine and cheap perfume! For a smile they can share the night. It goes on and on and on and on!"_

How long had it been since I've sung this? I had to learn it for a school concert once and there was even choreography to go along with it…

What was it again?

"…_Their shadows searching in the night!"_

Ah! Now I remember!"

"…_Don't stop believin'! Hold on to the feelin'! Streetlight people woahhh, woahhh!"_

I finished up my routine, holding the last note for as long as I could muster.

That was a lot of fun! What other songs do I know off of the top of my head?

I paused.

Wait a second. I'm going to be interrogated. Shouldn't I be taking it a bit more seriously?

…

Eh, who cares.

I should switch it up to things besides just pop music.

"_Finally now know what it takes, It takes money and airplanes!"_

"_I'm Insane! Well I can feel it in my bones, coursing through my veins! When did I become so cold?"_

Wait. Did I just admit insanity in the form of song?

"_You could be my luck. Even if the sky is falling down, I know that we'll be safe and sound!"_

"_I see this life like a swinging vine; swing my heart across the line. And my face is flashing signs…"_

"_I'm gonna fight em off. A seven nation army couldn't hold be back!"_

I kept singing. I never realized I had so much music stored in my brain. I guess that's what happens when you live in a world where it's heard every day.

"_Please David Bowie-sama-sensei-sempai-sensei-sama-sempai-sama! I told you I'm not David Bowie, and I wanted you to care for your ninja brethren-"_

The door to the room was slammed open with a residing 'thud'.

Oh come on! I was almost finished with the song!

Scar-face entered a smile plastered on his face.

I'm going to take that as a bad thing. A very bad thing.

"Sit."

I complied, quickly picking up my chair and moving it back into its original position. At some point there I had used it as a makeshift stage.

"So…"

Ibiki pulled out a kunai, throwing it so that it grazed by my cheek as it was impaled in the wall behind me.

"Tell me about yourself."

* * *

><p>AN: I'm not sure if I quite pulled off the idea I was going for here. :

Anyway, here are all of the beautiful songs in order I quoted from:

Lean on Me- Bill Withers (Am I the only one who really hates this song?)

What's Up- 4 Non Blonds

Don't Stop Believing- Journey (I'm so sick of this song... D:)

Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)- The Wombats

I'm Not a Vampire- Falling in Reverse (Such a catchy song...)

Safe and Sound- Capital Cities

Counting Stars- One Rebublic

Seven Nation Army- The White Stripes

Ninja Training Song- Ninjabridge


	12. The Truth

"So, care to tell me about what you were just doing?"

My eyes instantly drifted to the floor, heart beating at an increasingly fast pace.

"Look at me."

I didn't move.

A sudden pain crossed on my other cheek, followed by the sickeningly warm feeling of blood dripping down my face. I reached up with my hand to wipe it away.

I was grabbed by the wrist before my fingers even touched the spot.

"Raise your head and answer the question."

This time I complied, slowly raising my chin to meet his gaze. He stared back at me, his smile broad smile not quite reaching his eyes. My eyes immediately ran over the two massive scars that covered his face.

"Good. Now answer the question."

What should I say? How should I act?

The grip on my wrist suddenly became tighter.

"Killing time."

"Is that so?"

He let go of my arm, and I instinctually pulled back as quickly as possible. I rubbed the now sore spot. It wasn't broken, but it would probably bruise.

"What was it you were saying?"

This question took me by surprise.

"S-song lyrics?"

Ibiki's smile suddenly disappeared.

"You were speaking in a way different than our own. I'll ask again, what were you saying?"

Wait, was he trying to say that I sung all of that in English? But that wouldn't make sense though. The seal was supposed to translate everything I said. I don't think singing something would be the sudden loophole.

I guess I must have taken too long to answer, because Ibiki decided to restate the question with a much harsher tone.

"What did it mean?"

"I-I was just singing songs. None of them really have any deep meaning."

He stared at me, the corners of his lips tuning at an upward angle.

"Let's change up the topic and talk about you."

He pulled out a clipboard that I didn't realize that he had before, slowly flipping through its many pages. Stopping at one, he tapped on the clip board before turning it around the show me.

"It says here that your name is Kato Mako, age eighteen. Born December 10th. "

"Hair color green, eye color grey. Blood type B. Civilian. Height: 168 centimeters, Weight: 58 kilograms. "

He flipped a page.

"Has been in a coma since the age of one years old. Recently awoken from unknown cause."

There was a sudden look of absolute glee.

"Has knowledge of high level secrets, recommendation of immediate disposal after interrogation."

I couldn't help but shiver.

None of the details besides the last were even true. What kind of name was Kato Mako anyway?

I guess the last statement didn't have an as profound impact on me as he wanted, because Scarface felt the need to rub it in.

"I would have to agree with that assessment myself."

Even in his presence I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

Should I even care? This was a dream, so it wasn't like I would actually die. In fact, dying might be a one way ticket out of here for all I know. Not that I was going to experiment with that any time soon…

I suddenly felt cold metal press against my neck.

"I see you take me too lightly."

There was sudden urge to gulp, but I resisted it.

"The Hokage favors you, but that means nothing to me, understand?"

I gave a slight nod, hoping to not bring my neck closer to the blade in the process. Ibiki pulled the kunai away while I tried to remain a stiff as possible.

"We both know there is more to the story than that. I'd like to hear your take on it."

"Well… I also have a wide variety of hobbies if you want to hear about them."

This actually resulted in a small eerie chuckle.

"You know kid, I kind of like you."

There is no way that's a good thing.

"Uh…Thank you?"

He laughed again, this time pulling out a kunai and twirling it around on his finger. I couldn't help but stare at it, anticipating his next movement. I knew what he was trying to do. He was using operant conditioning on me, changing my behavior so that the sight of a kunai would instantly invoke fear. Even though I knew what he was doing, it still kind of freaked me out. Oh psychology; a dangerous advantage in the hands of someone who knew how to use it.

"Now try again."

My hands started to involuntarily shake.

Screw it all. Might as well tell him the truth.

"I-I'm not from this world. Where I'm from this is all just a story, and I'm pretty convinced that this whole thing is a dream anyway. None of this is actually happening."

"Oh, is that so?"

Ibiki didn't look particularly moved. Might as well keep going with it.

"Yeah. Your whole world is the creation of some middle aged guy living in Japan."

"Where is this Japan? Is it where you say you're from?"

I shook my head.

"Not at all. I live in a different country entirely. "

"So this man, you claim he created this world?"

"Yes. So basically every bad thing that happened in your life is because of him. And he makes money off of it."

"So what you're telling me is that we are all just characters in some story?"

"Exactly. I'm afraid you don't have a very big fan base though."

Was… that a look of amusement on his face?

"Interesting."

Ibiki was quiet for a while, just watching me while I tried to avoid direct eye contact.

"Is this how you know so much?"

I shrugged.

"That's mostly from fanfiction actually."

"Fanfiction?"

"It's basically people writing out their fantasies for their favorite series. There is a lot of shipping usually involved."

"Shipping?"

"Having two characters that most likely never get together and writing stories about their paring."

"I see."

We went back to a long period of silence. Scarface just sat, musing over what I had just said. There wasn't much left for me to tell now. I basically just reviled the secrets of the secrets of the universe to him. It was honestly a load off to tell someone what was going on.

"I'll give you one more chance."

_Huh?_

I instantly sprung up from my seat.

"W-what do you mean?"

"That was quite the elaborate story you shared with me. You acted quite sincere, almost had me falling for it."

"But-"

Whatever pretense of being a civil human being was suddenly gone. His aura alone invoked absolute terror, making me want to go curl up in a ball in the corner.

This guy. I was at his complete and utter mercy. He could do anything he wanted to me and there was nothing I could do about it.

"There is a simple way to confirm the truth, though it could be extremely painful for you to experience."

"Go for it."

He looked genuinely surprised.

"Oh, Alright then. "

"I'll begin the preparations."

He got up, walking over to the door. Ibiki unlocked it, stepping over the threshold.

"You're an interesting one alright."

After a loud clang, the only sound that could be heard in the vast room was the constant ticking noise.

* * *

><p>AN: I was trying to decide between making this one really long chapter, or splitting into two. In the end I decided to make it into two because it felt more natural for me to end it here. These chapters always seem much longer to me when I'm writing them out for some reason...<p>

More interrogation stuff to come!


	13. The Other Truth

I suddenly felt something grab my shoulder.

Saying that I freaked out would have been an understatement.

I immediately flailed around, kicking and punching out at whatever was in my immediate vicinity.

I opened my eyes to see some middle aged blond man with a mullet standing in front of me. He looked familiar; pupiless eyes like a certain character I couldn't seem to remember the name of. He looked very calm, but there seemed to be something underneath it.

"You fell asleep. For someone in your position you seem very relaxed."

Wow, had I really? I guess I had been more tired than I thought.

I tried to stifle an incoming yawn.

Looking around the room I noticed that besides the ninja in front of me, Ibiki was there too. He was leaning against the wall by the door with his arms crossed; nothing to be read off of his blank expression.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Yamanaka Inoichi. I am part of the Konohagakure Intelligence division."

Now I remembered him. He was the father of Ino and part of the Ino-Shika-Cho group. I didn't really have an opinion of him either way, seeing as how he hadn't really shown up very much.

"What is it that you're going to do?"

He straightened up a bit.

"I am going to use a technique that will allow me to search through your memories. This way we can confirm your story."

I nodded.

"Oh, ok. Go ahead then."

"Alright."

He reached forward, placing his hand on top of my head.

"You won't remember anything that happens to you during the process."

"Got it."

Inochi took a deep breath before closing his eyes.

"I'll begin."

There was a slight pressure inside of my head. It was like the feeling of ascending quickly in an airplane. Over time though, it started to feel like someone was slowly filling up my head like a balloon. At some point it was just going to explode.

I could feel myself slipping away under the influence of some unknown force.

…

"Are you sure that's all the file says?"

"Yes. I requested all information access to be granted."

"This doesn't make sense though."

"It's your technique."

"I know that, but…"

Those voices… Where was I again? What had I been doing?

"Can't we just try it later?"

"The results will be practically the same."

"What do we do about the kid then?"

"She might still quickly cave, especially after this. You've made tougher men crack with less."

There was a snort.

"I've been barely trying up to this point. This one only has civilian status."

Ugh, my head. Why was it pounding so much?

"I think she's waking up."

"You're dismissed. I'll handle the rest."

"I'll be seeing you then."

There was the sound of footsteps and then that of a door being lightly pulled shut.

"Well,"

Someone had propped up my limp head by the chin.

"Care to share another story with me?"

Groggily, I opened my eyelids.

"A-a-n-nother?"

"That's right. It looks like what you told didn't check out after all."

"N-n-ot possible."

How? They should have known everything I said was true after that!

"I think you don't understand how I work. I get what I want."

Clearing up my foggy thoughts, I decided to do what should have been my first choice since I was put in here.

Lie.

"I-I'll tell you everything."

"Good."

My head was let go of, causing it to fall slack once again. Weakly, I picked myself up, trying to ignore the head ache.

"I-I was told recently that when I was asleep I had no spiritual energy. Though my body was here, in a way I really wasn't."

I didn't know what they had seen, but it couldn't have been much, guessing from their reactions.

"And how is that?"

"Spiritual energy in some places in also called a 'soul'."

If I remembered correctly, it said something along the lines of that on Narutopedia.

"I think at some point in my life my soul was separated from my body, unable to get back. I remember drifting along, able to see, hear and speak, but no one knew of my presence. It all felt like it wasn't real, yet it was at the same time."

Sure. Why not.

"How did you come to posses' high security information?"

"For some reason my soul was always attracted to people of power. I would always observe for a time before moving on."

"How is it you know how to speak in a different way?"

"I started off in a different land where they spoke a different language. Allot of my time was spent in that place, and it was only until recently that I began to feel the pull of a strong power from this area. Ocne I came close enough I even began to feel the pull of my body."

It's kind of true at least.

"What about the places you told me about before?"

"They're real. Japan is a country in-between this place and where I originally came from."

Ibiki paused for a moment.

"If what you say is true, then why did you tell me that all before? Why go through the memory scan over a lie?"

Um…

"I thought out of the two, saying that I was from another world was more believable."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, I mean at least it was to me. The best lies contain part of the truth right? I thought if you saw it yourself, you would more easily believe me. "

"And the words you mentioned before?"

"Those are all real things. There really is a guy out there writing a story about ninjas from Japan. The people who settled Japan were originally ninja, though now all the details surrounding them are just myths."

The room again went silent. Ibiki leaned back in his chair, taking out a kunai and pretending to be interested in it.

"Anything else you would like to tell me?"

"Uh, no. N-Not unless you have any more questions of course."

I tried to say this while flashing him my most sincere smile.

"Name."

"N-Name?"

"Have you always gone by Kato Mako, or have you been calling yourself something else until now?"

I thought about it for a moment.

"Kay."

"Kei?"

"That's the nickname I go by."

"So what is your full name then?"

I instinctually gave Scarface the fiercest glare I could muster.

"I'd _die_ before I tell anyone that. I've never told anyone it before, and I'm not starting now."

There was another laugh from Ibiki.

"Quite defensive over something so minor."

"Trust me; it's not minor in the least."

I couldn't help but shudder. I hated my full name more than anything in this world. Who knew what my parents were thinking when they named me. When I was old enough, the first thing to do would be legally changing it.

After a moment Ibiki got up from his seat, still chuckling.

"There are things much worse than death. We all learn that someday."

"That's nice."

He headed over to the exit.

"I hope we meet again sometime kid. I'm sure I'll have many more questions for you by then."

"You know, feel free to take your time."

Another laugh.

"We'll see."

* * *

><p>AN: I had a really hard time figuring out where to go with the story, but I'm happy with what I went with.<p>

I'm not sure how well I'm doing with characterization so far. ^^; I'm kind of nervous about writing any main characters in fear of monumentally messing up.


	14. Sightseeing

It was quite interesting indeed. What kind of process had they used to carve it? Using such a hard material it was possible they used contained explosions. Then again, they could've just used a ninjutsu to get the job done. This was delicate work however, a sloppy job wouldn't do.

"Are you done yet?"

"Just give me two more seconds!"

I could hear Daichi grumbling behind me, leaning against the side of a building. I had really wanted to check out the Hokage faces, try and toss around a couple of theories in my head about its creation.

After my last chat with Ibiki, I was promptly dumped back in my cell and then eventually released. I guess my story about being a disembodied soul was more reasonable to them than being from another dimension. Who knew?

The only reason I was walking around like a free man (with the exception of my temporary Jonin "body guard") was most likely because they had nothing concrete on me. If they had really wanted, I could have been locked up for the rest of my life. Instead they had given me an apartment to live it, a monthly allowance, and the promise that I would be kept under surveillance.

Hooray?

Now that I had gotten myself out of that sticky situation, I had all of the time in the world to go sightseeing! We had journeyed around the village, taking in all of the local architecture.

You know, the village gates are really quite impressive in person! Such a large scale too!

"Daichi-san, do you think you could take me to the library next?"

I had always been curious about what the libraries in the Naruto world were like. That, and if there were any math related textbooks to read. Math is a universal language, meaning that I could at least figure out that much without really knowing how to read.

Even if I was stuck inside a dream or whatever, falling behind in school wasn't an option. I was going to be an architect one day, dang it!

"Are you sure you really want to go _there_?"

I nodded enthusiastically, which caused Daichi to roll his eyes.

"Fine. I'll lead the way."

We both walked at a leisurely pace, though it was mostly for my benefit. I hadn't realized how weak my body really was. I don't think I had any muscles to speak of.

Just out of curiosity, I suddenly stopped at the side of the street to do a couple of pushups.

"O-one, T-t-two-"

I collapsed, panting heavily.

"What _are_ you doing?

"E-ex-exercising."

"Really? With that pathetic display I couldn't quite tell."

The gentleman he was, Daichi started to walk away.

"Wait!"

I scurried up from the ground, quickly getting back on his tail. He turned to make sure I was still in sight at least.

"Look. Unlike you, I actually have places I need to be today. I stopped doing babysitting missions a long time ago."

True enough. I literally had nothing to do at the moment besides hang out around the village. I still needed to figure out when I was, but a non-cannon character didn't seem to be the best one to ask. And asking oddly specific questions like, "Do you know Naruto Uzumaki?" was probably a one-way ticket back to prison.

We continued on for some time before reaching the library.

The building was quite large; several stories; definitely not something you could mix up with buildings around it. There was a large sign hung above the doorway that I couldn't read at all.

We climbed the steps, and after pulling open the doors headed inside.

I wasn't really expecting much, but it seemed like your average library to me. Well minus the computers, the area where they keep the CDs and DVDs, and the over abundance of teen paranormal romance literature. Several tables were set around the rows of book shelves, civilians and ninjas alike doing some sort of research.

When was the last time I had to dig through books to use on a school assignment? With internet, I had practically all the information I needed at my finger tips.

I walked around a bit, picking up a book here and there to try and figure out if I was in the right section. I wasn't having any luck. At some point I wandered over to the children's section, and out of curiosity picked up a picture book.

Hazzah! No unreadable characters in sight!

I searched through a couple more books until I found one that was meant to teach basic Kanji. It seemed like I would be able to learn a bit more after all. Sure it was meant to teach small children, but with this I would be just that much better at Japanese!

Daichi this whole time though had been following me at a reasonably safe distance, and had now decided to take the opportunity to stare and gawk.

"Just _why_?"

"I'm pretty much illiterate."

He shot me a confused look.

"When we first met, I could barely speak the language. That also goes for reading. I guess seals can only do so much."

He looked away, muttering something under his breath that I couldn't quite catch.

"Sanu-san!"

We both turned around to find the source of the voice. It was in fact that of a familiar pink-haired ninja. She looked like her version from Shippuden, which answered at least one question of mine.

She was sitting at a nearby table, a large stack of books off to one side. Several loose papers were strewn about, a few scrolls rolled open here and there.

Daichi gave her a slight nod.

"Haruno-san."

He headed over to her while I followed with the books still held under my arm.

"I haven't seen you around the hospital lately."

"Tsunade-sama assigned me to a several week long mission. I just returned, though I was over there a couple of days ago."

"Ah,"

Sakura gave almost a sheepish look.

"I was called in to be questioned over some Intel that was recently received."

Her expression turned suddenly dark.

"Some person gave them false details, which caused me to have to spend that whole day being interrogated over it. _When I find the person who told them that…"_

Oops. I guess that wasn't cannon after all…

Daichi to his credit said nothing in response.

"Anyway,"

Sakura quickly went back to smiling.

"Who is the person with you today?"

"This," He lazily waved towards me. "Is Kato Mako."

I nodded nervously. She wouldn't really beat me up, would she?

"Nice to meet you. I'm new to Konoha. Daichi-san has been showing me around the village."

More like assigned to do it, but it sounded better this way.

"I'm Haruno Sakura, a medical ninja like Sanu-san."

Daichi shrugged.

"That's my secondary. My primary abilities lie in ninjutsu. I just help around when needed."

"Don't say that! You're one of our best. Even Tsunde-sama says so."

He just looked away, which seemed to frustrate Sakura a bit. I ended up picking at the corners of a book to and try and distract myself the sudden awkwardness.

"So, Kato-san, what kinds of things have you seen at so far?

I looked up are her, surprised to be suddenly thrown into the conversation.

"Oh, uh just calling me Mako is fine."

"In that case, feel free to call me by my first name then too."

I nodded.

"Well, for the things I seen so far; I've been to the village gates, a monument, the Hokage's faces, a couple of cool buildings here and there-"

"Sanu-san! Why haven't you brought her to any interesting places?"

Daichi held his hands up, looking defeated.

"It's what she requested."

"She doesn't know the village as well as we do. There's tons of stuff to do around here that are way more fun than looking some building."

B-but what if I like looking at buildings?!

"Alright then, it's settled!"

Um…

"What is?"

There was a look of extreme passion in Sakura's eyes.

"I'm going to show you around tomorrow! I can meet up with you at your place around noon."

Daichi smirked.

"She's all yours."

_Hey!_

"Uh, sure. I live in building A, apartment number thirty-five."

"Great! I'll see you then."

I couldn't help but inwardly groan. Sakura was never my favorite character, especially with her Sasuke obsession. Now I would have to spend all day with her.

"Are you going to check those out?"

She was pointing to the books I was holding.

"Y-yeah."

"Oh! Do you have a younger sibling?"

"No… They're for me."

"Oh…I… I see."

* * *

><p>AN: Kay is finally going to meet some cannon characters!<p> 


	15. Introductions

My apartment was pretty small by my standards; one bedroom, one tiny bathroom, and common area mostly taken up by a kitchen. There was a balcony though, that gave me the partial view of the Hokage's Faces. (Possibly as a message to tell me they were always watching?) All the place came with when I moved in was a twin bed and a low table for the kitchen.

Actually, it was kind of awesome. I'd be going off to college eventually, and dorm rooms were way smaller than this. I could change it however I wanted, and test my interior decorating skills in the process.

After receiving my first monthly allowance, I set up a budget for myself. I guess I can thank my middle school home ec. classes for something after all.

I earlier had Daichi show me around the different stores and market places in the village; which gave me the chance to buy a couple things. That list included an alarm clock, new clothes, a can of paint, some fruits and vegetables, and a gigantic amount of cup o'ramen.

Why ramen? Because I have about zero recipes memorized. Whenever I needed to make something other than canned soup, I'd always consult a cookbook or look it up online. And without proper guidance… I don't even want to think about the potential food poisoning.

But hey, I got chicken _and _shrimp flavor! So much variety! Unfortunately no cereal was to be found.

According to my clock, Sakura would be showing up anytime now. I doubled checked that everything in the apartment was in order. It seemed fine, so I plopped down on top of my kitchen table. I really needed to get some chairs soon. Maybe Konoha had thrift stores I could shop at.

Just as I started contemplating whether or not there was a ninja IKEA, a knock came from the front door.

Ugh. D-day has arrived at last.

I begrudgingly unlocked the door, opening it up to see Sakura standing there in front of me. She was wearing casual clothing and had a cheerful smile on her face.

"Ready to go?"

I slowly nodded.

"Yeah, let's head out."

…

"…and this is a great Korean barbeque place. We definitely should get some people together and go!"

So Korea wasn't a place in this world, yet they have Korean restaurants? Okay then…

We had visited several shops including a clothing store, a book store, and a little café. At some point we ended up going on a restaurant tour around the village. I keep zoning out, mostly to question the logic of the Naruto world.

"Mako-san?"

"Oh, sorry. Don't worry I'm listening."

She sighed.

"I'm the one who should be sorry. I can tell you aren't all that interested, yet I kept dragging you around to places."

I gave her my most sincere smile.

"No, really. It's completely fine with me."

Weird. I never really thought that Sakura was the type of person who would be so thoughtful. Was it that Shippuden Sakura was just that different?

She paused in thought for a moment.

"Hey, how about this. Since you're new here, I could introduce you to all of my friends."

I was kind of surprised at the suggestion.

"Uh, yeah sure. That would be awesome."

She smiled back in response.

"Great! I'll have you meet Ino-chan first then. Her family owns a flower shop, so it's always fun to look around in there."

…

"Mako-chan~!"

After being introduced, I was suddenly greeted with a tight hug.

"Aw, you're so cute!"

How old exactly do I look too these people anyway?! I'm still a bit taller than them right?

"Thank you?"

Sakura stood there with her arms crossed, a smile threatening to appear on her face.

"Ino, I don't want you scaring her off. I promised to show her around the village today."

She released her grip on me, and I quickly to a stepped out of glomping range. There was a sudden flash of excitement around Ino.

"Oh, I see! I'll come with you guys then! We should find Hinata-chan and Tenten-chan and have girls' day out."

Sakura nodded.

"I was going to introduce her to them anyway, so that could be fun."

She then turned to look at me.

"So what do you think? Up for it?"

It's not like I could say no, and I was kind of excited to meet the other cannon characters too. As much as I had looked, I hadn't seen Naruto around anywhere. Chances are he would show up when those four were together.

"Sure, it's fine with me."

Ino let out a little cheer before walking to the over side of the room.

"Here, just give me a second."

She untied the apron she was wearing, and put it under the register desk.

"Mom! I'm going out! I'll be back in a couple of hours!"

There was a muffled response.

The three of us soon left the shop, Sakura and Ino walking on either side of me. Ino was a pretty chatty person, and she kept tossing any and all questions she had my way.

"You just moved here right? Where were you from originally?"

I had to think about how to answer that one.

"Um, a place far, far away. "

I guess that answer made her even more curious.

"What was it like? I know you're a civilian, but were there ninja?"

I shook my head.

"None. Ninja where I'm from are kind of just myths, and the ones that were around in ancient times could in fact, _not _defy the laws of physics."

"What do mean by 'the laws of physics'?"

"Oh, you know, like gravity, conservation of matter. What goes up must come down; you can't make something out of nothing. The sort of things that holds our universe together and you can't go against."

They both stared at me, confusion clearly showing on both of their faces. Sakura looked especially bewildered.

"I think I understand what you mean by 'gravity', but I'm not familiar with second term."

"Same here."

Why was I not surprised?

Ino had several points to make regarding the subject.

"I think I understand what you mean, but I don't get your explanations. With chakra we can do stuff walk upside down without falling, and create entirely new things using a jutsu."

"Yeah, where I'm from that's impossible."

"But how? Are they just not developed in their usage of chakra?"

"There is no chakra."

"No chakra?! How are they even alive then?!"

Must. Resist. Banging. Head. Against. Wall.

"You know, just forget I ever said anything."

"Oh, ok then…"

There was a pause before Ino perked up once again.

"Well anyway, you've got to tell me some more stuff about yourself! I like to know everything about my friends!"

She was considering me to be her friend already? That was fast. I barely knew her at all, yet she made up her mind just like that.

"Well, what would you like to know?"

"Hmm, how about-"

"Hey Ino, we should have her answer the questions we were asked when we made Genin. It seems fitting enough."

Some sort of nostalgic look passed between them, and I could kind of guess what they were reminiscing about.

Ino suddenly clapped her hands together.

"Alright then! Mako-chan, tell us your likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams for the future."

"Um, well…"

I had never had to tell this info to someone straight out before. I knew what I liked, but it wasn't that often that I just laid it out for someone.

"I like architecture, bunnies, the color purple, and sleep. My dislikes include…um…"

I knew I disliked a lot of things like any normal human being, but nothing really came to mind. Well, except-

"Dreams. We kind of have a love hate relationship at the moment. Oh yeah. And my hair. I really hate my hair."

Sakura jumped at that last state statement.

"Why don't you like your hair?"

"If you don't like the length, Sakura and I could cut it for you! It would look really cute right bellow your shoulders."

What's wrong with people in the Narutoverse? Don't they see the obvious issue?!

"Guys, its green. "

I had to stop myself from bursting into tears. I thought I had gotten over this… tragedy. Sure I had been avoiding mirrors after _the incident_, but I had slowly started accepting my role as an abomination to mankind.

They both started to look very defensive, Sakura especially looked peeved. Bonding over mutually ridiculous hair colors maybe?

"Did someone make fun of your hair?! _When I find them…"_

I waved my hands frantically in front of me.

"N-no! It's not that at all!"

"Mako-chan, your hair color is really beautiful! You need to have more self confidence!"

"Yeah! Don't let some idiot get you down!"

"Really, that's not the problem-"

I was interrupted by more "inspiring" words. They seemed very pumped up over this issue for some odd reason. I started to get the feeling after five continuous minutes of it, that they were saying it more for their own benefit somehow.

Before I was able to even touch on the other two questions, we arrived at a large, Japanese style estate. The Hyuuga's probably, seeing as how Tenten had no family background to speak of.

We stood around, waiting outside the gate for a short time until a figure slowly walked towards our direction.

Ino was to first to spot them, and took the opportunity to cheerfully wave.

"Hinata-chan!"

The figure did a slight bow, meekly replying in a quiet voice that didn't carry quite far enough.

As Hinata got closer, her eyes immediately darted to me, and then to the ground. She started to fidget a bit, trying not to look directly at any of us.

"H-Hello Sakura-san, Ino-san. I s-sensed you from my room."

Sakura was the first to respond this time.

"We're trying the get all of the Konoha eleven kunoichi together to hang out today. Are you interested in coming?"

"S-Sure."

I thought it was probably for the best that I introduced myself instead of just standing there.

I gave a slight bow like I had practiced in my Japanese class.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you. I'm Kato Mako, though you can feel free to call by my first name."

I motioned towards Sakura and Ino.

"These guys are showing me around today."

Startled, Hinata immediately bowed back.

"H-Hello. M-My name is Hyuuga Hinata."

After another moment of wonderfully awkward silence, Ino practically jumped for joy, fist pumping into the air.

"Alright then! We just need to retrieve Tenten-chan, and then we're off to the bathhouses!"

Wait. _What?!_

* * *

><p>AN: The last few days were kind of busy for me, so writing this took longer than I wanted it to. I hope I haven't written horribly OOC characters so far... Anyways,<p> 


	16. Turning Down an Offer

"Did you just say bath houses?"

"That's correct! There's nothing more relaxing than taking a bath after a long week."

"Um…"

Right. That's something I forgot about Japanese culture. I wasn't sure if bath houses were as popular modern day, but they were still a thing. In the Naruto world though, it was _definitely _still a thing.

I gave them all a slight bow.

"Thanks for showing me around today. It was a lot of fun. "

I took a step back.

"I think I'm going to head home now."

Another step back.

Hinata looked at me nervously, while Ino and Sakura seemed kind of disappointed.

"What's wrong Mako-chan? Don't you want to come?"

"I promised to have you meet everyone today. Did we upset you somehow?"

One more step.

"N-No, nothing like that. I'm just suddenly _really _tired."

Ino put her hands on her hips.

"Then this would be perfect! If you're really that tired, we could just have Tenten meet us there."

Two more small steps.

"That's really nice of you to offer, but I think a nap is what I need."

The two of them suddenly swarmed me, Hinata standing at the back of the group.

Sakura grabbed one of my arms.

"Come on, it I'll be fun!"

Ino grabbed the other.

"Yeah! You still need to answer my questions!"

They both showed fierce looks of determination.

"G-Guys, I-I d-don't t-think we should f-f-force her to come."

I silently thanked Hinata. The others looked conflicted for a moment, causing them to loosen their grip on me.

I took this golden opportunity to tug away my arms and bolt.

"_Strategic Withdraw!"_

Running as fast as I could, I headed down the street, turning into the first corner I saw. I glanced over my shoulder. Good, no one in pursuit yet. There was no way I could out run highly trained ninjas; but with a good plan I might be able to pull it off.

In no way would this bath house trip of theirs would ever include me. I did not want to be stuck in such an awkward situation. I didn't want this dream to take such a weird turn.

I kept jogging for a good five minutes with no sign of anyone nearby.

After a little I slowed down, nearly out of breath. I had to laugh a little at myself. I was just over reacting. I mean it wasn't like they would necessarily-

A kunai suddenly whizzed by, nearly slicing off my nose.

Holy Crap.

I slowly turned my head towards the direction the weapon came from; just in time to see the three of them standing on the roof top of a nearby building.

J-Just Why?! I only ran away! That doesn't warrant trying to kill me!

Sakura made a point of cracking of knuckles, her expression turning into that of a vicious carnivore.

"We were going to let you go, but after that stunt you pulled, you're going to come with us; whether you want to or not!"

I gulped.

This was bad. Very, very bad.

Okay, time to think. I can't win against them physically, but I'm older and have more life experience. That should count for something right? But then again, all of these guys are ninjas. They're trained to deal with situations like this.

However, they weren't exactly in the field. The leaf village is filled with the civilians that they were supposed to protect.

Alright then. Operation meat shield, commence!

I dived into the nearest restaurant, ignoring the greeter at the front door, circled around the waiters in the aisles, and after a grand leap over a table where a couple was currently dinning, slid into the back kitchen. The people working there seemed surprised to say the least.

You know, in real life I would have felt a lot of shame for doing that, but I guess the 'not caring' attitude had really gotten to me.

I quickly scanned the area. There was a giant fridge, a prep station, stove tops, a variety of giant pots and pans, but alas no door.

An older man looked up from the ingredients he was chopping.

"Hey you're not supposed to be in here!"

There had to be one here somewhere…

"Get out or I'm going to have you arrested!"

"By who? _The Uchiha police force_?"

He stood there in shock, his mouth slightly agape.

Ah ha, there it was! The door was partially covered up by a curtain.

I walked over to it, pushed it aside, and unlocked the door.

After dashing out, I found myself in a back alleyway. It would take the rest of them no-seconds flat to catch up with me.

The plan was now in motion. Time to go store hopping!

I rushed inside a building that was painted a light blue color; careful to close the door silently behind me.

It seemed that this time I wandered into the backroom of some store. Boxes were piled up all around, unopened crates stacked ceiling high.

I went through a door that led to the main area; which was apparently behind a register area. I almost rammed into the cashier with my speedy entrance.

After leaping over the counter and having many colorful curses thrown after me, I landed on top of a large pile of magazines.

Now that I looked around…

The store was really sketchy. The lights were dimmed down; a layer of dusk covered everything that wasn't new "merchandise".

It seemed that the establishment I had wandered into was where all of the perverts in town came to buy their "reading material." Where did they produce this crap anyway? Were there publishing houses in the Naruto world?

Either way, I needed to keep running.

I sprang for the door; and just as I was about to reach it, I found myself tripping and plunging face first into the wood flooring.

Ow.

After sitting up from the ground while clutching my pained face, I suddenly found my view being blocked.

"Yo."

I quickly scrambled backwards.

"AH! Too close, too close, too close!"

"Mako-san, I didn't know you were also a fan of this sort of thing~!"

Kakashi. Of course it was Kakashi. He was leaning over in front of me, smiling underneath his mask. In his hands were a large stack of books with orange covers.

I don't have time for this…

"I'm not. Just passing through."

I sprang for the door once again.

"Hold on."

Something about the tone of those words made me instantly stop and turn around.

"Y-Yes…?"

"Take the side door."

Huh?

Looking around the room, under all of the junk laying around there was in fact a side door.

But should I use it?

My eyes wearily drifted back to Kakashi. He was Sakura's sensei. He would be on her side then right? A potential accomplice to track me down. However, what would his motivation be in doing so? Personal satisfaction at my demise? Possible. Actually trying to help me? Possible as well.

Argh! I'm over complicating things! I'll just take the freak'n door. It won't throw off the entire plan.

After unceremoniously pushing the items aside; much to the store owner and Kakashi's dismay; I opened up the door.

…That led into a shop that sold ninja weapons.

Upon entry to the store, I accidentally almost impaled myself with a display katana someone was holding in their hands. I narrowly avoided skewering myself, but instead crashed into a barrel full of kunai.

This sent the loose kunai flying all around the room and hitting some of the unsuspecting customers. Luckily it wasn't hard enough to actually _injure_ anyone_. _But it was enough to seriously tick some ninjas off.

There was a sudden aura of killing intent filling the room. I could feel murderous stares boring into the back of my head.

Curse you Kakashi!

I-It was probably for the best I left now...

This time I didn't even bother this time looking for an alternate exit. I ran out the front door as fast as I could and down the street; not even bothering looking back.

…

"There you are! Get back here!"

After that last mishap the three of them had quickly caught up. I did my best to keep jumping in between buildings, but at some point I wasn't sure where I was even heading anymore.

At this rate I was going to be captured. I needed a new plan.

Scanning the horizon I noticed a tall fence that wrapped around a huge wooded area. I was quickly running out of buildings, and if this kept up there wouldn't be anything left.

As I got close the fence I realized that it was chain link, and there wasn't even barbed wire on top in some places.

No doubt my physical abilities sucked, but with adrenalin pumping through my veins I might be able to pull it off.

I quickly checked over my shoulder. I looked like was able to throw them off with my last building switch. It was now or never.

With burst of speed I ran to the fence, grabbing on and climbing as fast as my less than nimble hands would allow.

I had to move around a large sign that was tied to the fence. It had the number forty-four, and something written in bold red letters, but I didn't have enough time to stop and pay it any attention.

I heaved my body over the top, letting myself free fall the bottom.

Big mistake.

I landed on my right foot wrong, causing a shooting pain to go up my entire leg. I tried to ignore it; dragging my body farther and farther into the deep forest.

* * *

><p>AN: Yeah... She's not going willingly to the bath houses.<p> 


	17. Adventure

AN: Thanks for all of the recent reviews!I really appreciate all of your comments.

A couple of you already figured out her new location. :D

* * *

><p>"I think she might have gone in here."<p>

"Really? I doubt it. Anyone who could read a sign would never step foot in there."

"I-I agree with Ino-san."

"Please just check with your byakugan."

"M-Maybe we s-should stop looking. W-what if she really doesn't want to be found?"

"Hinata-chan~! We can't just give up now! She just doesn't know how great the bathhouses are!"

"And I made a promise I intend to keep."

Why couldn't those two just listen to Hinata?!

I was sitting quite a distance away, only able to hear the conversation because of how loud they were currently talking. The tree trunk was getting uncomfortable, so I shifted my position.

There was a pause.

"What was that?"

Dang it.

"I-It c-could just be an a-animal."

"Right! Come on Sakura. There a still a couple of buildings around here. No one would be stupid enough to go in there!"

"I'm not so sure…"

"Let's go!"

I could hear the sounds of complaints, as someone was being hurriedly dragged away.

I let out a sigh of relief.

Hinata had really saved me back there. If she had wanted me to be, I would have been discovered in a matter of seconds.

The bigger issue here was that I was starting to realize that this was no ordinary forest. Besides the obvious clues I got from their conversation, here and there I could see things moving about.

Those things… were not your normal animal friends.

My options for the moment were limited if I wanted to avoid detection. Trying to climb back over the fence was not only stupid with them all nearby, but would also be painful.

After just trying move my foot a bit, all I could feel was searing pain. Even applying only a bit of pressure hurt. I didn't know much about injuries, but I hoped that at least it wasn't broken. But hey! With the magic of ninja medicine I would quickly be as good as new.

My best bet would to following the fence from a distance until I came to a gate.

I around searched the area a bit, luckily discovering a nicely sized walking stick to use as a crutch. I propped myself up, getting pressure off of my injured foot.

It looked like this would do nicely.

Next, I backed away from the fence as far as I could while still keeping it in my sights. After that, I started walking in the opposite direction of where Ino and the others headed.

My system seemed to be working out relatively well. No one had come looking back this way; though I was moving at an excruciatingly slow pace. I really had used up all of my energy. I was very tempted to just sit down and take a nap somewhere. However, the constant sounds of creatures scurrying about immediately changed my mind.

The sky was quickly getting darker, yet I was still unable to find an exit. At this rate I was going to have to spend the night in here.

My parents had taken my sister and I camping when we were little. They went to the trouble of buying a tent and equipment, hoping to make it an annual thing for us all to do. Unfortunately, after camping only once or twice, somehow the idea got pushed to the back of the to do list. They said they didn't have time for it anymore with their busy work schedules.

Well, if I remembered anything from my marathons of Survivor Man and Man vs. Wild, I needed to find a source of water, set up shelter, and if possible make a fire.

I peered into the depths of the forest. …Did something just _slithe_r _by_ me?

On second thought, I wasn't that desperate.

In the end though, I found a nice little area under the roots of one of the massive trees to rest. At first, my thoughts lead me to try and sleep on a higher branch, but the trees were too tall to ever attempt to climb it without the assistance of magical ninja powers.

I barricaded the space as well as I could, propped up my foot, and kicked back for the time being. As intimidating as the forest might be, nothing would ever come close to the _things _I saw when we exited the mountain. I guess that wasn't saying much seeing as how I was now by myself.

Now that I was in a world where chakra was a thing, I wondered if it was possible for me to use it now too. I picked up a scattered leaf from the nearby ground.

There were bits and pieces I remembered from Sakura's chakra explanation from the earlier chapters. I knew there were substances called physical energy and spiritual energy. Somehow these two were mixed together to create chakra.

There was some sort of exercise using leaves used in a flashback. I think it had to do with concentration practice.

I placed the leaf between two of my fingers, trying my hardest to somehow draw the chakra to that spot. After several minutes of nothing happening, I tossed the leaf aside, letting it fall back to the ground.

Stretching out my stiff fingers, I started to wonder I was missing something really important. What was chakra supposed to feel like anyway? I felt no different than usual; nothing seemed to be particularly scream 'ninja'.

Didn't Naruto sometimes have to spend time gathering chakra before using a technique? Well, I'm guessing he actually had to all of the time. He later on probably just got better at it.

I picked the leaf back up, trying to concentrate the chakra in my fingertips.

There was sudden rustling of leaves outside my area. Immediately, I grabbed for my stick and a rock I had picked up along the way.

My heart started to beat rapidly; palms growing sweaty. Whatever it was, I needed to strike as quickly as possible.

I waited, ready to pounce.

There was a bit of movement as something small came into view. It had grey fur, long ears, and beady eyes.

I let the tension drain from myself, taking a sigh of relief.

I was just a cute little rabbit hopping around the forest. Its little nose twitched as it sniffed the ground in search of food.

I let out an audible 'awwwwww'. It was just so fluffy and adorable!

I quickly made a decision.

"I will name you Hoppy. I will love you, and squeeze you, and never let you go."

Just as I was about to take a close looker look, there was a quick flash of green. Where the bunny once was, a giant snake took it place. As huge as it was, you could see a small bulge being swallowed through its body.

If it wasn't for the fact that its height and width was that of a golden retriever, I would of run over there and beat it down without mercy.

How dare it eat one of Go-Masashi Kishimoto's precious creatures!

Quickly, it finished up its meal; now turning to look at me. It opened its mouth, fangs dripping and forked tongue showing. My first reaction was to throw the rock at it.

The one skill that I'm most proud of would have to be my hand eye coordination. My years of being forced to participate in a summer softball league really helped hone my abilities.

With as much strength as I could muster, I threw it inside of the snake's mouth, aiming for one of its fangs. The rock connected, causing the snake to reel back for a moment in surprise. It quickly regained its composure though, now heading towards me faster than ever.

I braced myself, hoping to stab it with my stick as a last resort.

Out of nowhere, some type of cheetah- tiger hybrid pounced down on top of the snake, sinking its teeth deep into its skin, beginning to rip it to pieces. I was about twice the snake's size; however they were now in an intense fight against one another. The snake was trying to bite and squeeze it's opponent to death, while the cheetah-tiger was trying to eat it and slash it with its razor sharp claws.

During all of this, I was still sitting under the tree roots. My path was blocked by the scuffle, so for the moment I was stuck.

I gulped.

This wasn't the way I wanted to go. I didn't want to end up as one of those headlines about a freak accident. There was no desire for me to join the ranks of the lady who got her face ripped off by a monkey, or the guy who got mauled by a bear when hiking.

I need a plan and quickly.

To the back of me was the trunk of the tree, the giant roots overlapping to make a ceiling and walls. It was a nice little hiding place, but that meant almost nothing to dangerous predators. Being part of a root system, it gave me the advantage of nothing being completely solid. There were several gaps in the area above me, some even looking big enough to squeeze through.

I quickly checked my foot. The swelling had been gradually getting worse and I had ended up taking off my shoe off because of it.

There was nothing I could do about it for the moment. I had the leave now if I wanted a chance to escape.

I heaved myself up, making sure to bring my walking stick with me. I finally got a good grip on the roots above, setting myself about level with the cat thing.

They were still busy, but by the amount of blood being splashed around it would end soon enough.

I slowly circled around the tree, setting myself in the opposite direction of the fight. Shakily, I slid down, half dragging, half running away. It was getting darker by the minute, making me completely lose my sense of direction.

My heart was racing, my foot starting to feel like it was a two ton weight. Something in me felt like it was about to break.

Who was I kidding?

I couldn't out run that thing. I might not fear death, but I didn't want to die like this. Pain was still pain. That had just been proven to me.

If only I knew how to use chakra… or better yet hadn't gotten myself into this situation in the first place.

I couldn't help but question the Naruto world's logic one last time. Why have a forest full of dangerous animals in the first place? Well, unless…

Unless I was in the Forest of Death.

_Stupid. Stupid. Stupid._

Why hadn't it occurred to me before? Because I was idiotically distracted, that's why. Trained ninjas had died in here, and I was only a civilian. I stood no chance.

Well this sucked.

I could hear a loud roar behind me, signaling the winner of the fight. The sounds of crunching undergrowth became louder and louder, my attempts to run being more and more futile.

If I had any regrets, it would be that I never learned how to use chakra.

Even if it was just a dream, having powers was something we all wished we could do. Fighting the bad guys; ignoring our everyday dose of reality; being _special_.

I looked at my hand once more.

When Naruto had to learn the Rasengan, he had to focus on a dot in his palm, drawing his chakra to that somehow. The chakra system was a thing right? Like an extra organ people had. I guess I had it now too.

With the last of my concentration, I put everything I had into my hand.

There was a faint little chuckle, which I realized came from myself. This was a pretty stupid way to spend my last seconds.

Suddenly, I felt a slight tingly feeling envelop my hand, a shimmery blue aura now surrounding it.

Well what do you know; I could to it after all.

The celebration was short lived, as the creature had finally caught up with its prey. I pointlessly turned to face it, stick in hand. In the very least I would fight until the end.

It came at me pouncing, fur covered in blood and claws gleaming in the moonlight. I set myself up in a batting stance, ready to attempt a final home run.

I swung.

I missed.

* * *

><p>AN: Wow. That was a such a cruel cliff hanger; yet I just couldn't help myself. On to the next chapter! :D<p> 


	18. Voices

"_Kay!" "Kay!"_

"_Oh thank God, she's awake!"_

"_Oh sweetie, we were so worried!"_

"_K-Kay?" "Kay!"_

"_Why isn't she responding!?"_

"_I'm not sure."_

"_Then do something about it!"_

"_I assure you ma'am, we are currently doing everything we can."_

"_I don't believe that! There has to be something more!" _

"_Please ma'am. If you can't calm down I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."_

"…_Fine."_

"_K-Kay…"_

...

"Can't you do something about it?"

"Trust me I'm trying my hardest. She's just lost too much blood."

"I can give some of mine if that's what it takes. I'm type O."

"I don't have the proper equipment with me. I can't do a transfusion until we reach the hospital, and there's no way we can move her in this condition."

"Do I have enough time to make a run?"

"I doubt it, but you can try if you want."

"Her chances?"

"Low. I'm surprised she's held on this long. Will power I suppose."

"I guess she'll need a lot of that then."

"Yeah…"

…

"_Her vitals are looking better."_

"_W-Will she be okay then?"_

"_We'll have to wait and see, but it seems her condition is slowly improving."_

"_I need you to call your father. He needs to be here."_

"_I already have. He told me that he's on his way."_

"…_.W-What was that?!"_

"_I'm sorry, but I afraid I need you both to step out for the time being."_

"_But you just said that she was fine now!"_

"_Some complications just came up."_

"_I-I she going to die?"_

"_Please, I need to make room for my team to work."_

"_L-Let's go sit in the lobby and wait, alright? Let the doctor do his job."_

"_B-But I-I want to be here with her in case- in case she-"_

"_Please, you need to go."_

"_Maria. We need to go."_

"_O-Okay."_

...

"Stay with me. C'mon focus on my voice. Don't close your eyes now."

"Is it working?"

"Seems to be. I can't believe you made it in time."

"I know a technique."

"Thought as much. How did you find her in the first place?"

"She passed by me earlier. I saw her head in this direction."

"And you didn't stop her?"

"I didn't think she would head _here_ of all places. Besides, you know the rumors."

"As her usual tail, I can go ahead and discredit those for you. She's strange, but not dangerous."

"Hmm. Then why still follow her?"

"Orders from the higher ups." "Hey! Keep em' open! It's alright, it's alright."

"I see."

"_W-What, W-Why…?"_

"Don't talk too much. You're going to be okay now; we're here to help you."

"_M-My Mom… my sister…"_

"Is she hallucinating?"

"Possibly." "Hey! You can't get up yet. I still need to heal you."

"_D-Daichi?"_

"Yes, I'm here. Kakashi-san is also. You remember him right?"

_"Y-Yes."_

"That's very good. Do you remember why you're here?"

"_B-Bathhouses."_

"I think that answers my question."

"We're going to need to get her more help soon. I've done almost everything I can at the moment. I'll need your assistance."

"Just tell me what to do."

"Help me gently pick her up." "You're going to be moved alright? Try not to jerk around too much."

"_Mmhm."_

"Keep your eyes open! Don't quit on me now!" "We better hurry."

"Got it."

"Stay with me Mako, okay? Stay with me."

* * *

><p>AN: This is my shortest chapter so far because it's only dialog.<p> 


	19. Suggestions

My body felt heavy for some odd reason; like someone had decided to dump several tons of cinder blocks on top of me and then called it a day.

Something had happened to me, but what was it again?

I tried to clear my head for a moment.

Oh right. In my last attempt to fight back, I got mauled by a cheetah-tiger after being tackled to the ground. The last thing I remembered was the pain of being stabbed in the chest.

There was also some crazy dream I had that included my Mom, my sister, Daichi, and Kakashi for some odd reason.

Now that I thought about it, my eyes were still closed. I tried my best to open them up, an invisible weight holding them down.

Well, now that I had died in my dream, and if my theory was correct, I should finally be back in my own bed. Home sweet home awaits!

With a lot of effort, I was finally able to pry my eyelids open to see a crowd favorite; an off white ceiling. Craning my neck downwards, I discovered that I had winded up in a hospital room.

Judging by the low-techness of it all, I was still in the Leaf Village.

Even after a surely fatal wound, I was somehow still alive. Did that mean then that in my dreams I was un-killable?

It seemed possible. If that Hidan guy could be immortal, why couldn't I? Well I guess that would mean joining a crazy religion though, which I would never do, but-

A hand gently pressed down on my shoulder.

"You need to lie back in order not to aggravate your injuries any further. "

Ignoring this advice and slightly startled, I quickly sat up and turned to stare at the person who had been talking to me.

That had been a bad idea.

My top half of my body felt like someone had just stabbed it through with a pitchfork and dumped hot sauce on top.

"W-What are you doing?! Lay back down!"

The person taking care of me was a younger looking man with long purple hair and a strong jaw line. His whole appearance looked a bit disheveled; several hairs falling out of the pony tail he kept it up in, dark circles under both of his eyes.

The guy looked really familiar for some reason; though I couldn't say where from.

"Do you want to die from bleeding out?!"

"S-Sorry…"

I laid back down in bed, still glancing at the doctor. He let out a long sigh before rubbing his eyes. The guy looked like he was doing some sort of paper work, furiously scribbling away.

After several minutes of this and no more follow up statements, I finally got up the nerve to ask him a couple of things.

"So…"

He looked up from his papers.

"What exactly happened to me?"

He went over the foot of my bed and picked up a clip board. After flipping to the second page he began to read out loud.

"A broken ankle, a partially collapsed left lung, a couple of broken ribs, but most importantly a punctured heart."

I couldn't help but reel back in shock. Did anyone even live after having their heart punctured?

After seeing my expression, the doctor's expression began to look a bit more sympathetic.

"Luckily, some ninja were nearby to save you before you were completely mauled."

So I really was mauled then?! Wow, I'll have to one up someone with this story later.

"I should probably go and thank them."

He nodded.

"They've both come by to visit you recently, but it would be nice for them to see you when you're awake."

"Wait. How long have I been unconscious?"

"Almost about a week now."

Huh.

"Then how am I not completely healed?"

He looked a little taken back.

"What do you mean? Nothing can be healed that quickly."

"But with medical ninjutsu, can't you pretty much heal anything in about a day?"

"No."

Well that was kind of disappointing.

"What about healing the blind and crippled?"

"No."

"Giving everyone perfect vision?"

"N- Well, I guess we've never put forth the resources for that…"

He paused for a moment in reflection.

"Actually, with Tsunade-sama leading the project we might be able to do it… Improved vision would also help with capabilities in battle…"

"You could also market it towards civilians. I'm sure a lot of them would be interested."

"True… We could even charge them and put the money back into the village fund…"

"While you're at it, maybe you guys could also start doing dentistry work."

"Dentistry?"

"It has to do with the health of your mouth and teeth."

"We have been advising the citizens for years to pay extra care to that sort of thing…"

"See? And you can raise awareness while also improving people's overall well-being."

"Hmm. I need to bring this up with the Hokage…"

"You should. I think these small changes will really improve the village."

He sat in silent reflection for a moment, pondering and jotting down a few notes. Suddenly, the doctor bolted upright, his eyes almost bulging out of his head.

"W-What am I doing? I need to report the situation immediately!"

Just after that he speedily darted out the room.

Since the doctor was out of sight, I slowly started to sit up again, this time taking care not to hurt myself too much. I first noticed that under my hospital gown I was wrapped up tightly in layers and layers of bandages. I was in a fact a little curious about what kind of scar I would have. My arms looked a little beat up too, and there was a bulky cast on my foot.

This sucked. I swore things healed faster than this in the Naruto universe. Now I had to hang around a boring hospital room all day until I was released. Maybe I could get my hands on a deck of cards and kill time that way.

_TAP TAP_

I turned towards the source of the noise. Inoichi of all people was standing there, knocking on the door frame.

"May I come in?"

So they didn't buy my story after all then? Or is he here for more information? Either way, this was bad…

"S-Sure."

He stepped inside, giving me a slight nod of the head. He sat down in one of the seats, pulling it up close to me.

"I'm sure you remember me Kato-san? My name is Yamanaka Inoichi of the Intelligence Division."

I nodded.

"Good. Then you know why I'm here to visit you today?"

I gulped.

"To throw me a get well party?"

"Not quite."

His face remained blank, an almost sereneness about it.

"Although you are not a ninja, you have recently gone through a traumatic near death experience. I know it's so sudden after you've woken up, but I'd like to let you know that I will be providing therapy sessions for you."

…_What?!_

"Seriously, this doesn't bother me at all. I don't need therapy."

Who cares? This is all a dream. How could something that never really happened be deeply traumatizing?!

"I know it may feel that way right now, but in time you will come to understand what I mean."

"Isn't this a conflict of interests though? As my therapist we won't be able to make a very good connection; seeing as how you helped to interrogate me."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"I'm the best at what I do, and I _will _do everything I can to help you."

That really isn't that reassuring….

"Anyway,"

Inoichi stood up from his seat.

"Our first session won't be for a couple of days. I hope for your speedy recovery."

He put the chair back in place, swiftly exiting the room.

I kind of just stared off in space for a moment, wondering why I couldn't have just died and not have had to deal with this.

Either way, it was going to be interesting.

* * *

><p>AN: Inoich is back!<p> 


	20. Apologies

My time at the hospital had been pretty uneventful so far. Basically all I did was sleep eat, and get my bandages changed. I knew TVs existed in the Naruto world, though they never really seemed to use them for anything. There had to be ninja cable out there somewhere. If there was, they should at least put some TV's in hospital rooms in order for the patients to not go crazy.

Being alone though did give me some time to stop and think. Most people around here seemed to be visited by people, but not surprisingly I hadn't. It's not like I really knew anyone anyway.

Did Mako even have a family? You'd think they would be the first to visit after so many medical miracles. But what about Tsunade? She for some reason had interest in me, and was even willing to go to such great lengths to help me. It was highly unlikely I was someone like her daughter, and I didn't think she had any family to speak of anyway.

On the other end of the lists of problems, it seemed that dying to wake up wouldn't be as simple as I thought. It looked like getting my seal unsealed was my best bet. The only character that I could think of who knew anything about sealing besides Kakashi, would be the Sanin Jiraiya. He went off with Naruto to train, but since this was Shippuden he should be around somewhere. Once I was released from the hospital I needed to go find him.

I guess I had a plan then.

With the time I had I also started messing around with chakra again. If was pretty hard at first, but once I got the feeling down, wielding chakra became suddenly a lot easier.

It was so cool!

Maybe it was childish, but having your hands spontaneously glow blue is pretty awesome!

Either I had low chakra reserves, or that 'technique' just took up a lot of chakra; but I got tired out pretty easily. I wasn't able to keep it up for very long, and once when a nurse walked in, I significantly freaked her out pretending to imitate Shippuden Sakura punching with glowing hands.

One day though when out of boredom, when I had been driven to making origami out of the paper in my medical analysis clipboard, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata came to visit me.

I had actually seen Sakura walk by my door a couple of times, but she had never entered.

I waved over to them.

"Oh, hey guys. Sorry about that whole running thing…"

Sakura furiously shook her head, the three having a collective look of shame on their faces.

"No, we need to apologize. We should of… We never…"

Ino suddenly butt in.

"Mako-chan, we're sorry that we chased you, and that you got hurt because of us. Please accept this, though it isn't much."

She handed me a vase full of flowers in several different shapes and colors.

"Oh, uh thank you."

I took it graciously, setting in down on my bedside table.

Hinata looked down at the flooring, fidgeting while looking like she wanted to say something.

They were all quiet, each of them looking deeply remorseful in their own ways. These guys… Though I hadn't known them for long, aka less than a day; they kind of reminded me of my own friends. Hinata was a bit like Ada, and Ino reminded me of Rachel. I couldn't let them go on feeling bad about something they didn't do. They were acting like they had attacked me themselves.

"Guys, it's not your fault. Its mine."

Sakura started to protest.

"But-"

"Really, it is. I'm the one who got myself into that who predicament in the first place. I should have been more careful about reading signs."

Eh, well either way I made a resolution. After finding Jiraiya the first thing I was going to do was learn more Kanji.

"Mako-chan…"

"Hey, it's not like I got nothing out of this either! Do you realize how much fun it will be to gloat about this?!"

This time it was Hinata who spoke up.

"G-Gloat?"

"Yup! Don't you ever talk with your friends about stuff that happened to you, then another person says something worse that happened them, then you go back in forth trying to gain some meaningless sense of accomplishment?"

"N-No…?"

"Well trust me. It will be hard to beat this."

It would probably end up in the category for the weirdest dreams, but that was beside the point.

"Plus I'll get a cool scar story out of it."

It's always embarrassing when people ask about a massive scar you got from doing something really stupid. Well this might actually fall into that category….

"O-Okay."

The three looked more dumbfounded now than anything. This was kind of a good sign. No need to go back to the depressing atmosphere.

"Hey! You guys are all ninja's right? Tell me about what you do!"

They all perked up a bit, Sakura looking especially proud.

"We all fight to protect the village by taking on various missions along with our teams."

"Teams?"

"We're all assigned to teams once we graduate from the academy. They are made up three Genin and a Jonin sensei."

I nodded, already knowing this, but a little refresher never hurt anyone. Annoyed, but never hurt.

"That cool. So what kinds of people are on your team?"

There was a strange look that quickly flashed on all of their faces. Just as quick as it appeared, it vanished. Sakura smiled brightly, though in my opinion it looked a little forced.

"They're all nice, though Kakashi-sensei is kind of strange."

So she was dodging the question then.

"Hatake-san? I think I've met him before, so I get what you mean."

"Oh you have! Where?"

Uh… I honestly didn't have many good options to answer with.

"Ah you know, around. Reading."

Something about that sentence resonated with Sakura, causing her to become pretty ticked off.

"_That pervert…"_

"So Mako-chan~! Once you're out, we need to go and celebrate. You still need to meet everyone!"

Sakura chimed back in.

"Yeah! It's a perfect time to go to that Korean Barbeque place I mentioned."

"Uh guys?"

"Yeah?"

"What's up?"

"I've been meaning to ask this, but is Korea a place to you guys?"

Sakura thought over this for a moment.

"It is, however it's not on this continent. From what I've read they're pretty isolationist and their leader isn't exactly known to be well. He apparently claims to be a god from another world.

"Huh."

"That and it seems that they have no ninja, yet say that they are powerful. However, they really don't even matter on a grand scale of things."

"They have really good food though~!"

"Agreed."

…Did I just discover North Korea's secret?

…

We all ended up talking for a while longer, the conversation slowly wandering away from ninja related topics. By the time they left it was almost dark, and visiting hours were almost over. For a while longer I had time to myself.

I laid back in bed and listened the noise of the people outside for a moment, trying to blank out my mind.

There was one last thing I had been thinking about, though I had been trying my hardest no to. I guess all the distractions in the world wouldn't be enough in the end. Some things though, you never want to face.

That 'dream' I had. It was… unnerving. In the end I really had been saved by those two, and the injury symptoms seemed to add up. However, then what was with the other part?

My mom, my sister, why were they there? I was there, yet I wasn't? How did that work anyway?

Questions like these had been pilling up since I got stuck in this dream. Was it really a dream after all? But I've woken up from it before. Naruto is just a work of fiction right? Of course it is. Nothing can go against cold hard logic right?

I can feel pain though. But isn't it just in my head? Does it even matter if I get hurt?

Why am I even here in the first place?

I just wanted to keep doing what I'm doing and have fun with it. Was that so wrong?

* * *

><p>AN: Two chapters submitted in a day. I'm on a roll!<p>

I might go back and edit my last chapter. I kind of rushed parts of it.


	21. Facetime

I couldn't help but be a little nervous about the current date. Inoichi had said that he would be back soon. A week had passed since then, but there had been no sign of him.

I probably should have been happier about that fact, but instead it put me constantly on edge. Sakura and the others had visited a couple of more times, but as hard as I tried I wasn't able to pry much information out of them.

My civilian rank wasn't exactly helping my cause either, but it wasn't like I could just go off and become a ninja. I was apparently already eighteen; way too old to be enrolling in the academy. Plus I was a considerably sketchy person, though by seeing that Daichi hadn't shown up again to watch me, probably not as much anymore.

Where was that guy anyway?

I guess I needed to add searching for him onto my to do list. For all I knew he could be on some sort of mission.

I stood up from my bed, doing a little stretching here and there. Though I initially didn't think so, my body was actually healing pretty fast. I was going to get the cast on my foot off any day now.

After being caught singing a bit, or as the nurse put it, "disturbing the other patients" I ended up starting to wander around the hospital.

The purple haired doctor, whose name ended up being Takoa Yuki, was someone I saw a lot. It seemed that he had been in charge of my care since I had been in a coma. Ever since my miraculous recovery, had been slowly going crazy over trying to figure out what exactly happened. The poor guy. I'm guessing he didn't have much access to confidential information.

There was a bit of gossip I overheard among the staff stating that if he kept it up, he was going to have to go in and get some professional help.

Hey! We could be therapy buddies! I'm sure he would love that!

For the moment though, I was kind of stuck entertaining myself with whatever. I even bothered to finally officially look at myself in a mirror.

It took me several tries to get up the courage, but I eventually got myself to stand in front of a bathroom mirror.

Hesitantly, I stood there, eyes closed shut.

I just needed to look quickly and get it over with. No big deal. It would be perfectly fine.

Slowly, I cracked open my eyelids, a blurry figure coming into view. I had to stop myself from immediately running out of the room in terror from the blurs of green, but as my vision became more focused I soon got a good look at my features.

Well, my height seemed similar, and my skin tone was about the same as my normal one. The rest of my face though… there was nothing recognizable about me.

I couldn't help and jump back in surprise for a moment, poking myself to make sure it was all real.

In describing myself, I guess you could say I had the potential to be attractive if I weren't so disheveled and pale looking. I looked a bit younger than my apparent age; maybe abut fifteen or sixteen. This still wasn't close enough my actual age of seventeen, but I guess I would just have to deal with it. My eye color was especially weird to look at, being used to having blue eyes stare back at me every day.

Getting over my initial shock, I started making a bunch of random facial expressions to try and figure myself out.

My smiles looked pleasant enough, and the puppy dog eyes face had potential. Next, I made the most furious, pissed off expression I could handle.

I flinched at the sight of my own face, a shiver quickly going down my spine.

When I looked mad, I looked absolutely terrifying. It was almost a murderous look on my face.

Wouldn't want to run into myself in a dark alley.

I made the expression again, this time trying to take closer look at myself.

After looking for a bit, I noticed it was mostly in the eyes. They had a more angular shape to them than most eyes, which really came out in full impact when angry.

Well, the more you know I guess.

I spent a bit more time making faces, my 'kawaii' expression completely throwing off whatever initial fear I had over myself.

The next issue though was still my hair. I could stop myself from instantly breaking down in tears now, but I still hated it.

The hair itself went well below my shoulders, almost midway down my back. Over all, it was uneven in several places; like someone had tried to cut it in layers, but had failed horrendously. They might as well of taken a weed whacker to it to get this effect. It probably would have looked better if they had.

If I had scissors with me I would have sat there and cut it, or better yet with a kunai. Kunai seemed to be the scissors of the ninja world.

The color of my hair itself was a light shade of green, but was still pretty vibrant. It looked like something you could pick out of a crayon box.

I guess it might make good camouflage in a forest; but then again, since when had Naruto ninjas cared about dressing up to blend in?

After my musings on whether or not Naruto's orange clothing was acceptable for a ninja, and making a mustache and beard out of long stands of hair, I headed out again to do a bit of wandering around. As I turned to exit the room, I found the doorway blocked by a younger looking nurse.

She looked a little confused, staring at me with a bewildered expression. I stared back at her, trying to silently convey the message for her to move out of the way.

The nurse didn't budge, eventually finding her voice.

"Um, excuse me miss, I've been waiting for you to notice me for a couple of minutes now… Well anyway, Yamanaka-san is here to visit you."

Ugh.

"Thanks for telling me, I'll be out in a couple of minutes."

The nurse nodded; expression unchanging.

"Are you- alright?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

She frantically shook her head.

"It's-it's nothing. I'll be outside."

She exited the room, silently shutting the door behind her with a click.

I let the room fill with silence for a moment, taking in my surroundings.

As quickly as I could, I hobbled over to the single window in the room, unlatching the lock. Luckily I was on the first floor, meaning I could get away without doing some second or third story jumping out of windows.

The view was of the backside of the hospital, a little gardened in sight and a nice escape view around the corner. I refused to be subjugated to Inoichi's mind games.

I was healed enough. It was time for me to get out of here!

Readily, I swung one leg over the window, careful to not knock my cast into it too loudly. Just as I was about to bring my other leg over, I heard the click of the door.

"Kato-san, I'm-"

There was a dead silence.

Recognizing that voice, I nervously turned my head around.

"Oh, um, Inoichi-san, I was just doing some new leg stretches. Care to join me?"

He looked like someone had just told him that his puppy died, and that I was the culprit.

"Kato-san, why don't we start our appointment now?"

This was quickly spiraling downhill.

"I would, but I'm burning so many calories right now that I don't feel like I can just stop."

Surprisingly, instead of asking what a calorie was, or why I was burning them, he came over to me, resting his hand on my shoulder.

I had never seen him look so compassionate and fatherly before.

"Were going to get through this together, okay? I'm here to help you."

I stared at him in absolute horror.

I wasn't trying to run away from my problems, I was running away from you!

* * *

><p>AN: I got stuck writing this chapter for some reason, but I eventually figured it out. It's sometimes difficult to try and decide when to introduce which character, but I think I'm going to just wait for the right moment first.<p> 


	22. Socializing

"Well, what do _you_ think?

"That Konoha is potentially violating animal rights by taking creatures out of their natural habitats and keeping them in an enclosed space to fight one another?"

"That's not what meant."

"That geneticists should be more creative with their hybrid combinations?"

There was a moment of silence between us.

"What do you mean by that?"

"In my wanderings I found out that there are certain countries where they are greatly developed in their understanding of sciences. Genetics deals with the study of heredity and genes."

"You seem to have acquired quite allot of knowledge."

"Ah, really? I guess I have…"

Now that I thought about it, I've had more schooling than practically everyone in this world just with my uncompleted high school education. The majority of them graduated at age twelve if not younger; and most of the things they learned had to do with fighting.

Wow, that means in comparison I know really advanced stuff. Huh.

Inoichi lightly set down the clipboard he was using on top of my hospital room beside table. He hunched over in his chair, hands crossed over one another. The expression on his face looked a bit grim.

"This is our third session together; however we don't seem to be making much progress."

I remained sitting up in my bed, trying not to make much of a facial expression.

Inochi let out a long sigh.

"As much as I may want to, I can't force someone to get help if they don't want it. Even if it's a request from the Hokage."

The Hokage?

"However, if you ever change you your mind though, feel free to come to me with anything you might be dealing with."

He stood up from his seat, grabbing his belongings.

"Alright, Mako-san?"

"…O-Okay. Thank you for everything then."

He nodded towards me as he pulled open the door.

"Until next time."

And with that, he left the room, pulling the door closed silently behind him.

**…**

"Congratulations!"

"Thanks Sakura-san, but you really didn't have to do all this for me."

"Nonsense. Besides, it's always great to have an excuse to go out to eat."

Chouji grunted in agreement as he chewed on another piece of meat.

A large group of us were currently squeezed into a circle booth; everyone happily eating and grilling the meat in front of them. Almost everyone from the rookie eleven were here, minus Naruto and Neji.

Tenten skillfully swiped a piece of meat out of Choji's grasp while Shikamaru muttered something to himself, sinking deeper into his seat. While Ino spent her time scolding her two team mates, Sakura looked quite pleased with herself for throwing this whole thing together.

Next she turned to me, an air of excitement around her.

"We can finally get on with proper introductions!"

She pointed a Kiba who was sitting at the edge of one of the booths.

"You can start and we can go in a circle from there."

"Why me…"

He looked a little annoyed, but with a quick sigh and the prodding of Akamaru, he gave me a bright smile.

"I'm Inuzuka Kiba, and this little guy here is Akamaru. Nice meet you."

Akamaru barked happily.

"I'm not sure if you could really call him little…"

Kiba suddenly had a deadpan expression.

"Wha do ya mean?"

"He's pretty large compared to some dog breeds out there."

"Breeds?"

So this world doesn't have breeds. Just dogs. You know, I don't really feel like explaining this.

"It's a thing."

Kiba just kind of stared at me for a moment before shrugging off my reply.

Next in line was Shino who made his intro as quick and simple as possible.

"Aburame Shino."

No one objected to this, and Hinata nervously began her turn.

"H-Hello again M-Mako-san. I am glad that you're alright."

"I should be fine now as long as I don't decide to spontaneously run a marathon or something like that."

"T-That's good then."

Lee called over something about marathons being part of youth, then was promptly smacked on the head by Sakura.

Shikamaru lazy sat up, motioning towards Ino and Choji.

"Nara Shikamaru. Part of Team with these two. Welcome to the village."

He then slunk down in his seat, elbowing the distracted Choji in the side to get his attention away from the food.

"What is it Shikamaru? I'm eating right now."

Shikamaru motioned towards me.

"Oh right."

He quickly pulled another piece of meat off of the grill and put it in his mouth.

"Awdkawmigi Ckhoghji."

Quickly, he swallowed his food.

"Akimichi Choji. It's very nice to meet you Kato-san."

"You can just call me Mako. Kato just sounds weird to me."

Actually both of those names do, but for some reason I wasn't too eager to tell them my actual one. Maybe it had just become habit at this point.

"Oh, ok."

Choji's eyes maneuvered over to empty grill, then the piece of untouched beef on my plate.

"Are you going to eat that?"

He made sure to point directly at it.

"…Yes."

Everyone stared at me somberly in dead silence, a twitch starting to form on Chouji's face.

"Uh, you can have half?"

He seemed pleased with that offer, and the others took a collective sigh of relief. I split it with my chopsticks; setting the other piece on top of his plate.

Taking no chances, I immediately scarfed mine down, taking a sip of green tea to wash it down.

Ino leaped into the empty silence, proudly taking over the moment for herself.

"Well, it's my turn now, though you already know who I am Mako-chan~! I'm a proud kunoichi of the Yamanaka clan!"

Minus Ino, I wasn't too fond of them at this point.

Moving right along, Tenten gave a slight bow, looking cheerful as usual.

"I'm Tenten. It's very nice to meet you."

"You too."

There's something I've always wondered. Does Tenten have a last name? Does she even have much of a back-story in the first place? According to the wiki page I read a while ago, apparently not. Either way, might as well ask.

"Tenten-san, do you have a last name you would like to be called by?"

For a split second, her expression turned to that of pure rage. I must have been the only one who noticed besides maybe Shikamaru though; as she was instantly back to smiling the next.

"Ah, I don't actually have one."

Either Tenten _really _doesn't like that fact, or she's lying to me.

"Lee, why don't you go now?"

"OF COURSE! Right away!"

He instantly struck a dramatic pose, standing up from his seat with one foot propped up on the table. I had to blink a couple times to make sure the sparkles around him weren't real.

"I am the ever youthful Rock Lee! I am pleased to make you acquaintance Kato-san!"

"You too, though technically all of us here are youthful. "

We're all only teenagers' right? Why wouldn't we be?

"Why yes of course! Though my teacher is especially so!"

There were a few groans around the table as Lee descended into worshipping mode. A waiter came and dropped off the bill, causing a few people to get up and begin to get up a leave. I couldn't let it end like this though. I still wanted solid information. I was best to confirm that I was in Shippuden once and for all.

"So, is this everyone from your friend group then?"

Kiba was to first to shake his head.

"Naruto and Neji aren't around right now."

Ok, this was going well so far.

"Oh, are they off doing missions and stuff then?"

Lee jumped into the conversation.

"My eternal rival is currently training! I will be heading there soon myself!"

"I see. And Naruto? I've heard Sakura say he's her teammate."

Kiba shrugged.

"He's been gone from the village off training for a long time now."

C-Care to repeat that?

Sakura shot him a nasty glare.

"What? I really doubt she's some sort of spy. There's just no way."

"Well I guess so… but you shouldn't go around telling people that. Who knows who could overhear?"

Find details. Find details.

"So, how long has he been gone then? It must be weird without him around."

Sakura's face softened, her eyes drifting off into space.

"In a few months, it'll be two years. I kind of wonder how much he's changed since then."

How many is a few!?

Kiba nodded.

"I guess I wouldn't mind seeing that moron again."

"N-Naruto-kun…"

"We'll have to have a youthful spar with one another!"

If there's no Naruto, then that means that there's no Jiraiya. And if there's no Jiraiya, then that means I can't wake up.

ADHGJCHEHTYKVJHGVBVJHCVJB

"H-Hey Sakura-san, can I ask you a favor?"

"Hmm? Sure, just tell me what it is."

"Can I take you up on that offer to cut my hair?"

"Of course!"

Time to kick up my feet and make myself comfortable. I have a lot of time to kill.

* * *

><p>AN: This week really didn't like me. D: I got swamped with work, so this took longer to write than I wanted.<p>

Now the fun begins! :D


	23. Learning

Wow, so that's the kanji for water. How fascinating.

I flipped the page.

Oh, and that's the one for person. So much learning its blowing my mind.

I brushed some dangling stands of hair out of eyes; tucking them behind my ear. My head felt so much lighter now. I never realized how much hair weighed.

It was now cut above my shoulders; messy bangs that were shorter in some parts, and longer in others. Sakura and Ino insisted that it looked fine, so I decided to just take their word for it.

For the last week in order to not die from boredom, I had started moving full speed ahead on my apartment decoration.

The walls of my bedroom were now a nice lilac color, and I had found a slightly beaten up bed side table that one of my neighbors decided to discard. One coat of white paint later, and it looked good as new. The newly purchased Ivory colored curtains and bedspread really gave the whole room a classic look.

I'd have to get some wall art and throw pillows next time I got my allowance.

Currently I was sitting on one of the colorful cushions in front my kitchen table. An old woman a few doors down had seen me walking about; and when I told her about my predicament, she graciously gave me some old things she had lying around.

After wards, she invited me to her apartment for tea and began to tell me all about her family. She told me all about her daughter that lived in the village, and all about how her grandson was currently doing at the academy.

Apparently it was his dream to be a ninja, but it worried her to no end. As she put it, no one really understood what it was like to be a ninja like a civilian. All they could do is watch and observe. And when you observe, you notice things. How people act, how people change.

I sat quietly and listened, nodding at a statement here and there.

Half of me wanted to completely throw this information out the window because of the lack of caring for fictional ninja, but at the same time it felt like something deep and important.

Well, I got free stuff out of the experience.

I kind hoped that Naruto would show up any day now, but that didn't seem like it going to happen any time soon. I don't think an exact amount of time was ever stated in the manga. It was about two years, but that's all I knew for sure.

It was probably for the best that I went out and walked around a bit more.

Setting my books down and slipping in a scrap of paper as a book mark; I headed for the door, slipping my shoes on as I went.

These library books must be ridiculously overdue by now. I'll bring them back soon.

If I remember.

Probably.

…

The first place I headed to was the construction depot. It was a wide open area located in one of the back corners of the village. There were piles of different length boards all around, a several buildings on sight coupled together.

I ended up deciding to explore all of the corners of the village I hadn't been to before, and one day I ended up here. It was interesting to stand around and observe the work process; plus I didn't really have anything else to do.

I struck up a conversation with a worker who saw me wandering around one day. After chatting for a bit, our conversation took a turn to architecture. He said that he was surprised someone like me was so interested in it.

Is that a compliment…?

The worker then called over his boss; a weathered older man whose white was hair cut short, and was dressed in simple attire.

Apparently he did most of the design work in the village along with his youngest son; a thin and anxious looking guy, with short brown hair and who must had been in his late twenties or early thirties.

The old man struck up an offer. I was free to stick around and observe as long as I helped out while I was here.

Well, after accepting the deal I finally built up some muscle. Not much for only coming around a for only a week , and then struggling to lift only one plank, but I could now do _three_ pushups without collapsing!

At the moment though I was assisting the son, whose name was Takata Yukio. Today though, instead of being is usual awkwardly cheery self, he was sitting slumped over on of a crate inside one of the warehouses.

"Um, Yukio-san, we still need to finish inventory check."

"R-Right. Just give me a moment."

He buried his face in his hands.

"This job sometimes is just so…"

"Did something go wrong?"

"Well, no. Things are the same as always, but that's the problem."

"Why would that be?"

Yukio took a deep breath.

"Our business tends to always be in the red. New construction at the moment really isn't in demand. At this rate, were going to go out of business. My father though insists we'll be fine, however anyone could see that's not really the case."

Wait. Wasn't there some giant village-wide destruction thing that happens? I don't know when or why, but things go boom.

I rested my hand on his shoulder.

"Trust me, you'll be fine. It might not happen for a while, but eventually you'll have more money than you've ever had before in your life. You could fill a lake with it and swim around in it that you'll have so much."

He looked up at me teary eyed.

"T-Thank you Mako-kun for trying to cheer me up. I wish it was really just that easy."

Oh, it will be.

Yuko stood up, taking a deep breath.

"We better get back to work then."

"Alright! Just tell me what to do."

"I need you to find the crate labeled-oh right. I got to tell you this before I forget."

"Hmm?"

"That blue haired fellow named Daichi. I found out from one of my buddies that he's back in the village for a while. It seems the reason you couldn't find him for so long was because he was gone on a mission."

"Thank you so much for finding that out for me!"

He chuckled.

"It's the least I could do for my new apprentice."

"Apprentice? I thought that _you_ were the apprentice."

"Ok fine. Apprentice to the apprentice. How does that sound?"

"Unofficial."

He laughed.

"True. I guess you're more like the chore girl for this place."

"…I'm learning valuable life skills?"

"Correct! Not everyone can become a ninja when their young, but that doesn't mean they have nothing else to live for. There are plenty of other great things to learn!"

Yeah… If everyone here was a ninja, the economy would quickly collapse.

"So… Did you ever go to the academy?"

"I did, and I failed out!"

This inspired another laugh that seemed kind of bitter.

"Clan brats are always the cruelest. It's a hard world for kids from civilian families."

"Oh. Were you… bullied then?"

"Huh?"

Yukio looked a little surprised by the comment.

"No. I was just horrible at it. Besides, I didn't have to go off in fight in war like some of the people around my age. In a way, it was almost fate."

"What do you mean by fate?"

"Well, I got a chance to really figure out what I liked, and I realized there was more to life than just fighting."

Whoa there. Let's not get too crazy now. Did you forget what world we're currently in?

"That's good then. I kind of wouldn't mind learning a couple of things myself though."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, is that why you're trying to get in contact with that ninja person?"

"Er, sort of. I also need to thank him."

"Thank him?"

"He helped me out recently, so I wanted to thank him in person."

Yukio nodded.

"That makes sense."

He took a moment to do a few quick stretches.

"That was enough break time for a whole month! Back to work!"

"Aye aye Captain!"

"You still haven't explained to me what that phrase means."

"Ah, pirates versus ninjas. The eternal struggle."

"…I think I may just stop asking."

* * *

><p>AN: Another kind of laid back chapter. I for some reason had Kay going out and helping at a construction company. I don't know why, but it just kind of happened.<p> 


	24. Teachers

"Daichi! I finally-"

I took a second to catch my breath.

"-found you!"

"Congrats."

He was standing in one of the training grounds throwing kunai toward a target with more energy than probably need. His back was turned to me; however I could tell by his body language that he was very tense.

"I have a favor to ask."

"I'll pass."

"Pass?"

I felt a little dumbstruck by the quick answer. He had never refused anything I asked of before. I always assumed that was because of his mission, but still. I hadn't even gotten the chance to tell him what it was yet.

"You can still hear right? I said no, and I'm pretty busy right now. I don't need any unnecessary distractions."

His tone was different than normal. Sure he would constantly treat me like a nuisance and belittle me at every chance he got, but none of it was done with true malice. This though, this was different. Daichi sounded legitimately angry.

Did something happen since I saw him last?

"Are you-"

"_Stop."_

"I Just-"

"Go."

I clamped my mouth shut and Daichi continued to do more target practice. I quickly began to notice though how deeply the kunai were imbedded into the target. It was stuck in all the way up to the handle.

It didn't look like Daichi was going the budge anytime so. Provoking him in this state wouldn't be a good idea either. I doubted he would purposely hurt me, but if he momentarily forgot I wasn't a ninja… it would not end well.

Well, if I was going to get shut out like this, I might as well extend some common courtesy.

"Daichi-san!"

"What did I ju-"

"Thank you."

His body froze in mid-throw.

"Thank you alright?! I wanted to at least thank you for everything that you did for me. Without you saving me back then, who knows what would have happened."

Well, I had a pretty good guess, but he didn't need to know that.

Daichi tensed up more than what I thought was possible.

"…It wasn't enough."

"I'm here talking to you aren't I?"

He shook his head.

"That's not the point."

"Then what is?"

"I failed my mission."

Ok. Honestly wasn't expecting that answer. I guess he did hand me off when he was supposed to observing me, but if it was really that big of a deal then why did he hand me off to Sakura in the first place?

"It can't be that big of a deal right? I mean, if you explain the situation I'm sure it'll be fine."

Unable to contain himself, Daichi spun around to face me; his teeth grinding together with a face full of several mixed emotions.

"Do you know why I was with you all of the time?

"To make sure I wasn't an enemy right?"

"It was to _protect _you!"

Oh.

"W-Why?"

Who or what would be after me? Was someone just overprotective of me or something?

He shrugged, cooling down a bit.

"It's my job."

"That's not what I meant. Why would there be a mission like that in the first place?"

"That I want to ask you."

"Me?"

"You don't seem to be from any important clans, nor do you have any known association with any important figures. The file on you we were given on you was basically blank besides the bare minim."

There was a long pause as he stared me straight in the eyes.

"What makes you so special?"

That was something I'd wanted to know for a long time now.

"I…I don't know. "

Daichi walked over to the target, easily pulling out the lodged kunai and putting them back in his pack.

"That's what I thought."

There was nothing for me to respond with. My mind blanked on me as I watched Daichi slowly walk away.

Just as he was about to leave the area, the reason for me visiting in the first place came back to me.

"Wait!"

He continued walking without pause.

"Please train me!"

Daichi stopped, frozen in his current spot.

I waited for a moment to see his reaction.

"Why…? You now know that you were under constant protection, and even now someone new has taken that place though they don't seem to have shown themselves to you."

Daichi turned around, walking back towards me. He now looked more annoyed than anything.

"Well that didn't stop me from getting mauled."

The look on his face morphed into one of a shame… and pity? Something I never thought I would live to see.

That was really a low blow; though I just couldn't stop myself. The whole situation was my own fault really, though it would be easy to dish out blame. I doubt Daichi thought I would be attacked in the _village _of all places under such stupid circumstances.

"You have a point."

"Great! Then you'll train me right?"

Daichi smirked like usual, washing away all of the tension we had built up earlier.

"Sorry, it's my policy to not work with children or animals."

"I'm seventeen!"

"I thought you were eighteen."

"Whatever! Please just train me."

He paused for a moment in thought, obviously sorting through a couple things in his head.

"…Fine."

Wait what?! I was almost sure I would have to go track down my number two most likely candidate, Gai.

"Really!?"

He sighed, his smirk growing larger.

"Don't get too excited now. I'm not the one who's going to be teaching you."

"You must really love that policy of yours."

"I guess you could say it's my nindo."

"Your Nintendo?"

Do they exist in this world too now?

"My what? No, it means my ninja way."

Oh yeah, didn't Naruto go on and on about that every other battle he had?

"Anyway, since that guy owes me a favor, and I usually know where he is this time of day, I might as well take you to him."

"Sweet. Thanks!"

"Just…"

He turned his face away from me, trying to hide an almost caring look.

"Be the opposite of your usual self."

Are these really your words of wisdom?!

"Meaning?"

"Think before you act."

"Hey! I (almost) always do that!"

"Then… I really don't know how to help you."

…

"Please teach me to be Jesus!"

"I'm not quite sure what you mean by that."

"Please teach me how to walk on water!"

Kakashi lazily leaned back against a tree, eyes never straying from the pages of the orange book he was holding.

"I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself. Why don't we take it a couple of steps back?"

I eagerly nodded.

"Tell me what you know about chakra."

"Um, you combine two different types of energy to make it, and there is a special body system that it flows though."

Hmm… what else did I remember from Narutopedia?

"There are different types of chakra that do… stuff?"

Uh…

"Yeah. That's pretty much what I know off the top of my head."

During all this Kakashi didn't bother to look up even once.

"Well, you seem to know some general information. Can you perform any jutsu?"

"Um, no. However, I can do this!"

It took me a good couple of seconds, but I was able to do the trick of making my hand glow blue with chakra. I had been practicing in my free time, and I was slowly but surely getting better at it.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Is it…bad?"

"If you don't even understand what you currently doing, then this is going to be a long process."

Kakashi was a bit different than what I remembered from the manga. He was still as laid back as ever, but he seemed to have lost his more playful side. That probably had to do with the fact that he just got stuck training a random civilian. Well, I guess I wasn't a _completely_ random person, but it still made my point.

"I suggest going to the library and reading up a bit before coming back here. We can start then."

Why does everything come down to reading!? Is it really that valuable of a life skill?

Don't get me wrong, I actually love reading. When I get time in between classes I like to pull out a book and read a couple pages here and there. I guess I really just took it all for granted up to this point.

My eyes wandered to the ground as I started to quietly grumble to myself.

"Well, it's not like I can just go to the academy…"

"Oh? Would you like to?"

I jerked my head up, making eye contact with a now smiling Kakashi.

That smile though… He was up to something.

"I'm a little old for that don't you think?"

"Oh it's no problem! I know one of the teachers there who would gladly take you in."

I swear there was a gleam in his eyes when he said those words.

"Well, then I guess so if it's not a problem."

"Great!"

Kakashi immediately closed his book shut.

"Go to the academy at 7:45 tomorrow morning. I'll have him come and find you."

And with a quick hand sign and another smile, Kakashi vanished; only leaves left in his place.

* * *

><p>AN: This is about the fourth or fifth rewrite of this chapter. : I just couldn't decide where I wanted to go with the story, so I kept rolling around a couple ideas in my head while editing here and there.

I'm not sure if the pacing was a good as I wanted it to be, but I think I got in everything I wanted to.


	25. Reviewing

"Everyone, I would like to introduce Kato Mako-san. She will be joining our class for a while."

I awkwardly gave a slight bow from where I was standing in front of the room.

"Nice to meet you."

A multitude of eyes stared back, some looking more confused than others. They were all about eight or nine years old, an age I was all too familiar with.

On my dad's side I have a large extended family. My cousin's ages range from elementary schoolers to college students. And when someone needs a babysitter, they all decide to call me. It used to be my sister they relied on, but once she left for college I suddenly became the go to person.

I was used to this age range, but it didn't make the situation less humiliating; especially with lots of not-so-quiet whispering going on around me. I guess it could be worse though.

"Why is she here?"

"She's so old."

"How many times did she fail to still be going to the academy?"

"Isn't that the weird lady who ran through town?"

"She broke into my Dad's restaurant! "

"My Mom's store too!"

Iruka walked in front of me, waving his arms to command attention.

"Everyone quiet down. We should give our new classmate a warm welcome."

I turned to Iruka and began to speak in a low voice.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to be here? I'm not exactly…"

He gave me a sympathetic smile.

"I also had my concerns, but after speaking with some of the higher ups this was all approved."

I guess the Hokage and the leaders really did trust me more than I thought.

I let out a little laugh.

"I'm sort of surprised. I honestly thought that I was going to be with put with the youngest age group. I don't really have much knowledge about this sort thing you see."

"I asked about that myself, but the best balance we thought was this setup. If you need any extra help, just find me and be happy to catch you up on anything you've missed."

"Won't you be teaching this class?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a nervous laugh.

"I will be coming here and teaching a specific topic to this class, but each grade has a teacher that teaches the majority of the subjects."

Hmm. That was similar to how the Japanese school system worked. Students for most classes would stay I their classrooms while teachers come and went.

I quickly nodded.

"Ah, that makes sense. Who will be my teacher then?"

Iruka looked away, suddenly very nervous at the question.

"I-I'm sure she'll want to introduce herself. She just started teaching this year, and I guess you could say that she's… unconventional. She was chosen by the Hokage herself though. "

"That's no problem then. I'll just explain the situation when she gets here."

"She's been told there is a new student, but it would be for the best if you filled her in on your particular skills."

The class was beginning to get a bit restless.

"Alright class! Take your seats! Mako-san, your spot is over there."

He pointed to an empty seat in the back right-hand corner.

I climbed up the steps and walked over to my seat as the kids around me stared.

A couple of girls sitting together started to giggle as they watched me go by.

"What ugly clothes."

One girl with blond hair snickered.

Another with dark blue hair laughed.

I couldn't help but look down at what I was wearing. In preparation of my first day of ninja school I went out and bought myself some ninja-y attire. I bought a bright blue t-shirt, dark grey short, black ninja sandals, and just for a little pizzazz fishnet leggings.

Looking over at the girls, they all seemed to be wearing some sort of dress-skirt thing in shades of pink and purple. At least mine was easier to move in.

Being bullied by ten year olds was almost laughable. I had to hold myself back from letting my babysitter instincts from coming out. Instead I said something completely over their head, or more accurately out of their world.

"I'm just expressing my first amendments rights to dress how I want, same as you guys."

They stared back at me blankly, eventually turning away to talk among themselves again. I kept walking until I reached my destination, sitting down on the bench next to a boy with dark brown hair, brown eyes, a green t-shirt, and khaki pants.

Unlike the other kids, he didn't even to acknowledge my presence and kept his face stuffed in some sort of text book.

Iruka began the class by going over some things concerning international politics and government in the ninja world. It was all really interesting and I began to take notes in English inside a notebook I brought with me.

It was strange. Though I was technically speaking Japanese, it was all translated inside my head to English. I could easily take notes because of this, but it was kind of mind boggling to think about.

The teacher began to speak a bit about the inner workings of Konoha, and one statement he said really made me wonder something.

I raised my hand.

"Yes Mako-san?"

I put my arm down.

"So in this government system, basically normal people have no power. It's the ninja who decide how their lives are run without their consent."

"Civilians of Konoha do have input within the council though. They select an individual to represent themselves."

"I get that, but how are they selected? Is it selected democratically in an election?"

"I believe the current representative is an influential business man. They tend to be chosen by the Hokage."

"I don't think he really represents the interests of the common people then. The vast majority of them aren't rolling in cash. This is beginning to seem life soft authoritarianism. Does the Hokage select the other council members as well? If so it only proves my point."

"Some are elders and others are the head of clans. We also have the advisors under the Hokage."

"So would you say that it's traditional legitimacy then?"

Iruka let out a long sight.

"Mako-san, I'm sorry but I don't really understand some of the things you're saying. Let's get back to the lesson alright?"

"O-Oh, ok."

I slunk down into my seat feeling slightly dejected. It looked like my attempts to understand the government system fully would have to wait for another day.

It took a while for me notice, but the kids around me minus my table partner were staring at me in awe.

"She knows things even Iruka-sensei doesn't!"

"Maybe she's not as dumb after all."

Oh yeah. Public high school education in the works.

"Settle down, settle down. I hope you're all paying attention. This is going to be on the test."

There was a loud collective groan.

…

Iruka closed his textbook, packing up his belongs into a bag he had with him.

The class stood up and collectedly bowed, similarly to how we did at the beginning of every Japanese class.

"Thank you very much!"

He nodded and smiled back.

"Test Tuesday everyone! Remember to study!"

And with that he exited the room, pulling the door quietly behind them.

Suddenly, instead of getting up and talking like I expected them to do in between classes, everyone went dead silent; pulling out their books and staring straight ahead, while sitting up in their seats.

It was… really odd.

The kid next to me though was still reading whatever it was and hadn't bothered to move an inch. I debated whether or not to alert him, but judging by the fact he was nonchalantly turning to the next page in his book, he really didn't seem to care.

I kicked back in my seat, leaning against the wall behind me.

Whatever what was going on couldn't really be that big of a deal. Plus I still had time before the teacher arrived.

I found myself closing my eyes and nodding off a bit. Sleep was just so boring these days. The less of it I got the more of others things I could do.

_SLAM_

I was instantly jerked awake by the sudden noise.

Entering the room was a woman who looked to be in her early thirties. She had soft features, long dark purple hair that was tied into a loose pony tail, and grey eyes. A headband was tied around her left arm, and her current outfit was… quite revealing.

She was wearing a very low-cut black long sleeve shirt with red spirals on both sides, a tan skirt with long slits on the sides and black _short_ shorts underneath.

Instead of simply walking behind the desk like a normal human being, she jumped on top of it and took a seat; making sure to cross her legs.

She scanned the room, chugging a bottle of sake she had with her.

"You."

She made eye contact with me.

"You the new student?"

"Y-yeah."

She took another swig.

"You can start calling me sensei then. I'm Mitarashi Masuyo. You might have met my adorable younger sister Anko before."

A-Adorable…? Not exactly the word I would have used…

"I guess I might as well get you started then. Class, what is our motto?"

Almost robotically they all replied.

"Don't fail."

"Good. If you can just do that we'll have no problems."

I nodded, suddenly questioning my choice to come here.

"Now that that's out of the way…"

She pointed to some poor kid with black hair in the front row.

"Go get me a refill."

She chucked the sake container at the kid's head.

"If you're not back in ten minutes, besides being pathetic, you'll have to do an extra hundred pushups. _Understand_?"

The boy frantically nodded, running out of the room at what must have been a record speed.

Masuyo let out a sigh.

"Scenario time kids. You're on an escort mission and you're attacked by a group of bandits. You are on a four man team in a wooded area far away from the nearest town. What do you do?"

The blond haired girl from before raised her hand.

"Rika-san."

"Um, use taijutsu and take them down yourself."

"Not even close. Add five laps today. Next?"

A boy who no doubt by his looks must have been a hyuuga raised his hand next.

"Isao-kun."

"I would use the gentle fist style and incapacitate them before they could make any moves."

"God no. And with your taijutsu skill? Add fifty reps to whatever is your usual."

Isao sat down, looking too proud to make any big reaction.

"Who wants a turn?"

The class went silent, many trying to avoid eye contact with the teacher.

"I know, how about my cute little nephew answer this time?"

To my surprise the boy next to me spoke, pulling a Kakashi and not looking up from his book.

"Just go die auntie."

"Incorrect answer. Fifty more sit-ups."

He just shrugged, returning to reading like before.

"Anyone else?"

Heck with it. Since this is the Naruto world, the answer should be obvious.

I raised my hand.

"Newbie."

"Work together with your team to take them down."

"Correct, ten minutes of extra break time today."

A few of the kids looked annoyed with me, especially the blond girl Rika.

"Can anyone tell me why she's right? Double reward for a correct answer."

Several hands instantly shot up.

"Yes, Takeo-kun?"

"You can make up for each other's weak points and get stuff done faster."

"Good enough. Twenty minutes."

The teacher leaped off the desk and picked up a piece of chalk from the chalkboard. She wrote out a very complicated kanji which I copied down in my notebook.

"For those of you who actually do their work in this class and go on to becoming ninja, without teamwork you can and _will_ die. You can train your little hearts out and become the strongest, but there's always things you can't do alone, or you would be stupid to do alone."

I could see a couple of the kinds roll their eyes, obviously not taking it very seriously.

"Oh, you don't believe me huh? I guess then it's a good thing we're doing sparing next."

There was suddenly a heavy air of dread.

"What's our motto for training, class?"

"If you're not dying then you're not trying."

She brushed away a nonexistent tear.

"I've taught you all so well."

* * *

><p>AN: I had a hard time deciding what to do with chapter, but in the end I came out with a new character. Anko will probably show up at some time to visit.<p>

Thank you everyone for all of the reviews and favorites! I really appreciate it.


	26. Skill Building

The whole class had gathered together in the side yard of the school. The area was fenced in, a couple targets off to one side.

All of my classmates lined up in front of fence, looking like they all had resigned their fates. I joined them, standing at one of the ends and towering over in height.

Masuyo soon followed, lazily walking up in front of the group. The kid she had sent out earlier was behind her, a refilled container of Sake in hand. She leisurely took it from him, letting herself have a long drink.

She wiped her mouth off with the back of her hand, staring down the group in front of her.

"Hmmm. How should we do this today?"

Every held their breath.

She closed her eyes for a moment, suddenly pointing to two random students out of the line.

"You and you. Front and center."

A girl with brown hair was called up who was shaking nervously; and also the hyuuga from before. He looked quite allot like Neji now that I thought about it, but his hair was instead cut very short.

Masuyo stood in thought for a moment, most likely to give them time to sweat.

"Spar against each other using your feet only."

She next blindly pointed to another pair in the crowd.

"You two are sparing also. One of you needs to put on a blindfold. I don't care how you decide."

After that she was on a roll, pairing up her students to spar in whatever conditions she could think of off the top of her head.

Some of them were kind of cruel, like making them maintain hands stands while fighting, or like she simply told her nephew and some Inuzuka kid, "Walk backwards the whole time."

The weirdest thing though, was that they all just accepted it and did it without question. Then again, judging by what I had seen so far, I was pretty sure that questioning her authority would be worse.

As the crowd thinned out though, I suddenly found myself standing alone. I thought for a moment that it was because of uneven numbers, but sure enough there was a group of three fighting each other while trying to stay balanced on top of the fence.

Well…

No need to over think it right? It would only make sense I wasn't fighting anyone. It was my first day! No one would expect me to know taijutsu. I was probably going to be taught the basics while they were all busy. Masuyo was in fact even approaching at the moment.

"So what's your name new student of mine?"

"Kato Mako."

"Kato huh?"

She took a moment to muse, a look of perplexion crossing her face.

"That's a name I haven't heard in a _long _time."

Wait, so did that mean she knew people that were apparently related to me then!? Did Mako actually have a family somewhere?

"Oh really, where?"

"It's a long boring story. Nothing too exciting."

Dodging the question. Why couldn't people just tell me things straight out?! It would save me so much trouble…

"Oh, okay."

I'll save more information gathering for when I get myself into her good graces.

"Now,"

Masuyo stared at me intently, putting the sake bottle inside her pack.

"Fight me."

What?!

I stared back blankly.

"A-Are you serious…?"

"How else will learn your abilities?"

I don't know. Ask me maybe?!

I didn't make any movements; only standing in place with what I could only assume to be a dumbfounded expression.

"Hurry up. I don't have all day, though I can make sure you spend all day training here."

Uh…

I slowly raised my firsts, making sure I had my thumbs tucked under correctly. Honestly, basically all I remembered from my kung fu classes was how to punch and kick without breaking my finger and toes, and how to block. And with my sucky amount of strength, nothing I did could really do any damage.

Masuyo watched me impatiently, tapping her foot on the ground.

Before I ran off and charged face first into my undoubted demise, it was probably a good idea to analyze the situation.

Masuyo Mitarashi. Judging from her demeanor, it was probably safe to assume she was a Jonin.

Why?

Because the only people who can get away with this kind of crap are Jonin and above and geniuses. In the Naruto world, as long as you had a high IQ or were crazy strong people tended to ignore your 'personality quirks'.

She only had the basic ninja gear on her, so it didn't look like she specialized in any specific weapon. This was a spar though, not a battle; so it's not like she would be carry it around with her while 'teaching'. It was a good idea so assume her fighting style was similar to Anko; focusing on taijutsu and aim.

In that case, fighting her like this I was really screwed.

I suddenly relaxed my posture, unclenching my firsts and raising my hand.

"I surrender."

Masuyo did not look amused.

"You can't do that."

Well according to the logic of Shikamaru in the Chunin exams, I was totally justified.

"There's no way I can hold my own against you. Plus I have pretty much no fighting skills."

I could see her eye twitching, a couple of groups of students stopping their spars to gape and stare at the scenario.

"Giving up so soon? That's quite pathetic."

Yeah, she was right.

I just shrugged, walking closer up to Masuyo.

"No its not. My life something for preserving. Why risk it doing something meaningless like this?"

The teacher stood in place, glaring and clenching her hands until her knuckled turned white. She looked like she was on the verge of snapping. I guess she wasn't used to people going against her.

I continued walking; now passing her on her right side.

Just as she was about to speak again, I made my move.

I spun myself around, kicking out my leg and aiming for one of the few weak spots I could think of; the back of the knee.

My hit almost connected, but even with Masuyo ticked off, she was focused enough to counter me without breaking a sweat.

She turned, and in a lightning fast motion punched me in the stomach, sending my body to fly through the air. I barely had time to register the pain before my body connected with a nearby tree.

Oof.

I tried to get up, the pain convincing me otherwise. It looked like my quickly thrown together plan had sort of kind of not really worked.

I mean at least I tried right?

This wasn't something I could have just run away from. I really want to learn ninja magic, and I doubted they'd let me back in if I suddenly dashed off on my first day.

A couple of kids came over to gawk, blocking my view of the teacher.

"The tree cracked!"

"She should have just fought sensei normally like we had to."

"Hey, are you dead yet?"

I quickly told them that in fact, I was still breathing.

"Out of the way! Didn't I assign you all work to do?"

The sea of students quickly parted revealing Masuyo in their wake.

"Interesting."

She was smiling at me.

SMILING.

Every instinct in my body told me to flee, but there was no place I could go now. I was trapped. I remained quiet, silently praying for my death to be as painless as possible.

"I think I'm starting to understand what kind of ninja you'll end up being."

I-I'm so very sorry!

"Give me one-hundred laps around the field and then we'll start talking about your taijutsu training."

Eh?

Was that a punishment or a reward…?

Masuyo turned away, calmly walking back to her original spot, pulling out a now empty sake container. She called on another random student to fetch her refill, throwing it into their faces like before.

I just remained sitting, trying to process the situation at hand.

Are all academy teachers secretly like this?

* * *

><p>AN: I actually don't have much to say about this chapter. ^^; On to the next!<p> 


	27. Common Knowledge

"You did _what_?!"

I had my face pressed down against the cool counter top.

"I ran a hundred laps around the practice field."

Sakura slammed her chopsticks down next to her bowl of ramen.

"B-But why? Even though you've been out of the hospital for a while, you shouldn't be putting extra strain on your body!"

Oh right. That was still a thing.

I gave a little shrug, trying not to hurt my sore muscles in the process.

"My teacher at the academy had me do it for training."

And I meant training in a very lose sense.

I saw out of the corner of my eyes that Sakura looked shocked, her mouth slightly hanging open.

"I can't believe Iruka-sensei would do something like that, let alone to a new student!"

"Oh, no."

I waved my hand dismissively.

"Iruka-sensei isn't my main teacher."

"He isn't?"

I could tell that Sakura felt relieved, though she was still very agitated.

"Yeah, it's a person named Mitarashi Masuyo. She just started teaching at the academy."

Sakura frowned slightly.

"Sorry, but I don't think I've met her. If she worked at the hospital or was a medical ninja, I'm sure I would have seen her; or in the very least heard of her though."

"Really? She's Mitarashi Anko's sister."

She paused for a moment, eye brows furrowing.

"I think Mitarashi-san was the proctor of the Chunin exams some time ago, but I never really spoke to her then or afterwards."

That statement really shocked me. I pulled myself up straight from slouched position, and turned to stare at Sakura.

"But Sakura isn't your teacher Kakashi-san dating Anko-san?"

Sakura stared at me blankly for a while until the words finnaly sank in.

"_H-Huh?!"_

She immediately got up from the stool she was sitting on, slamming her hand down on the counter with a force that rocked the entire restaurant at its foundations. The expression on her face of pure shock and disbelief said it all.

"Kakashi-sensei is _dating_ someone?!"

I nodded slowly, feeling a bit confused at her reaction.

Wasn't this common knowledge? I read it somewhere that they were a couple. I couldn't remember where it was from, but I was almost completely sure that it was cannon. Maybe Kakashi had just been keeping their relationship a secret for some reason.

Well I guess it was out now.

The owners of Ichiraku, whose names I didn't remember, attentively watched the scene unfold. The daughter froze while in the middle of sweeping, a soft yet sad smile crossing her lips.

"I see… so he's already in a relationship."

The older man though crossed his arms, nodded approvingly.

"It's about time he went out and found himself someone. Good for him."

Sakura scrounged around in her pockets, frantically pulling out a few bills from her wallet and slamming them down on top of the table.

"I'll see you later Mako-san. I need to go speak with a few people."

"Oh… okay then."

I gave her a little wave as she sped away, vanishing from my sight within seconds.

I laid my head back down on the counter, enjoying the blissful coolness. I'd need to go home get all of the rest I could for my next day at the academy.

* * *

><p>AN: This ended up being a surprisingly short chapter. ^^; I was going to add more, but in the end I thought that cutting it off here flowed better.<p> 


	28. Concentration

"Um, Iruka-sensei is there something that's supposed to happen…?"

"Well no. This is just an exercise in concentration."

"How will I know that it works then? Is the leaf on my forehead supposed to explode or anything like that?"

Iruka let out a small chuckle.

"Oh, nothing quite as exciting. Just try to direct all of your chakra to that point on your forehead."

"Okay."

I closed my eyes, thinking about before and how I had been able to concentrate my chakra in my hands. After I showed Iruka what I could do, he explained to me that the reason why my chakra was visible was due to how highly concentrated it was.

When it came to chakra it was all a matter of how you directed it. Your chakra was normally flowing all around inside your body; however there was a way of 'pushing' it to different areas.

I think there was a flashback to this exercise in the manga some time ago, but I was so eager to keep reading and find out what was next in the story that I skimmed over it. At the moment I kind of wished I hadn't.

I just needed to concentrate. If I could sit through school every day and several hours of homework, then focusing on this shouldn't be too difficult.

I took a deep breath, clearing my mind of everything but that strange feeling that I had come to identify as chakra.

I focused on the feeling of the leaf on my forehead; visualizing the chakra flowing up to it. Though it was something I was just imaging, I soon began to feel a slight tingling sensation that continued to grow stronger the more I focused.

"Mako-san, you may stop now."

I snapped my eyes open, somehow instantly cutting off the flow of chakra.

Iruka stood before me, his back to the teacher's desk. He smiled brightly, nodding towards me approvingly. I was the only one in the room at the moment since the rest of the class gone out to recess. I ended up taking him up on his offer for help earlier and he gladly agreed to teach me few things.

"You have a surprisingly good sense when it comes to chakra. Are you sure you haven't had any training before coming here?"

Well I did have an entire wiki at my disposal.

I just shook my head.

"I sort of just figured out the feeling one day and continued practicing from there."

I did get brutally mauled for it, but hey, opportunity cost.

"That's quite interesting. Most of us, since we tend to use chakra unconsciously from birth, have a hard time at first distinguishing the flow of chakra. Though I guess…"

He shifted around a little uncomfortably.

"With your… _situation_ it might by easier for you to do."

It looks like he read my file too.

Though discovering how to use what are basically supernatural powers is pretty awesome in itself, I wanted to start learning some of the _really_ cool stuff.

"Um, Iruka-sensei? When can I start learning some techniques?"

"Well,"

He straightened up his posture, turning around to pick up a couple of loose textbooks scatter along the desk, stacking them up into a neat pile.

"I think it's probably for the best that you learn it from Masuyo-sensei instead of me. I've heard that she's taking her class at a rate different than the rest."

OH NO NO NO NO NO

"D-Do you think that maybe you could possibly just show me…?"

He sighed, grabbing the books and tucking them under one arm.

"I don't want to go against what she has planned for you, but if you're really that interested…"

I nodded eagerly, making sure to use the power of my puppy dog dogs.

"Ok, but only this once alright?"

"That's totally fine! Thank you for showing me!"

Iruka set the books back down on the table, getting himself into a ready position.

"This first one is called the 'Clone Jutsu'. It's one of the basic ninjutsu every student has to learn here to graduate."

He made hand sign.

"The first hand sign we use is called 'Ram'. It looks like this."

Yup, that was a hand sign alright. One of the less painful ones to do at least. I copied him, trying to bend my fingers at the appropriate angles.

"Next is Snake"

Just clasping your hands together? I'm completely okay with that.

"And lastly, tiger."

…How many fingers exactly did I need to have down?

"_Clone Jutsu!" _

Suddenly, there were two puffs of smoke on either side of him. Once it dispersed, perfect copies of Iruka stood in place.

I almost had a heart attack from shear awesomeness.

Let me put this in perspective for you. It's one thing for you so see pictures or a TV show on a screen, but it's entirely different to see it in front of you in glorious 3-D.

I'm learning that. It's settled.

I copied the hand signs the best I could, repeating the phrase.

And nothing happened.

"You need to separate pieces of your own chakra to form the clones. It's tricky, but in time I'm sure you'll be able to do it."

"I'll just keep practicing then. But uh sensei, I have a quick question."

"Yes?"

"Is it required to shout out the attack name when using a jutsu, or is it only for the benefit of the audience?"

"…The audience?"

Whoops.

"Oh, never mind. It's nothing."

Iruka smiled at me, though now looking a bit confused.

"To answer your question, it's not required, but it helps you better focus on the jutsu your trying to perform."

"But isn't it kind of stupid to shout your attack name right before you use it? Doesn't that give away what you're trying to do to the enemy?"

"Well… when you put it that way…"

Iruka paused for a couple of seconds to contemplate, seemingly going through some kind of internal struggle.

"…Let's just move onto the next jutsu alright?"

I nodded, feeling slightly disappointed that my logic did not reach through.

"Okay."

I think Iruka noticed my reaction, because in the next second he was trying to comfort me.

"Mako-san, if you don't want to call out the attack name, you don't have to."

That really wasn't the point I was trying to make, but ok.

I smiled, trying to make it look as cheery as possible.

"Thanks Iruka-sensei!"

He smiled back, now looking suddenly rejuvenated.

"I'll show you the next technique now. It's called the 'Transformation Jutsu'. This is another one of the basic ninjutsu, though this one is a bit more challenging."

We went through the same process of going through the hand signs, Iruka patiently slowing down and giving me time to copy what he was doing .

"The difficult thing about this technique is having to constantly emit chakra. A strong mental image is also needed and has to be maintained for long periods of time."

"_Transformation Jutsu!" _

A large cloud of smoke appeared, quickly dispersing into the atmosphere. Where Iruka had been standing just seconds ago, was now a figure that was the same height as me, had the same clothing as me, the same hair color as me, and the same eye color as me.

I reeled back in horror.

"IT'S _HIDEOUS_!"

My clone frowned.

"But I transformed into _you_."

That hair color. Oh god I was going to puke. Too real, too soon.

I scooted away farther, suddenly feeling like I wanted to go into fetal position. All of my trauma recovery was beginning to unravel before my eyes. My body involuntarily shivered.

Iruka dispelled the technique, looking extremely concerned.

"Are you alright?! Do you need go to the hospital?"

Shaking my head adamantly, I walked back to my original spot.

"I'm fine. Sorry, that just kind of… _happens_ sometimes."

"Well if you say so…"

I flashed him my most award winning smile followed by a bow.

"Thanks for showing me all of this Iruka-sensei. I really appreciate it."

Iruka seemed a little startled from the gratitude, but he quickly accepted it.

"I'm glad to help."

"I know it's asking a lot since I'm sure you're busy, but is it possible you could tutor me tomorrow again at lunch?"

He looked a bit sheepish, now rubbing the back of his neck.

"Normally I would be happy to, but tomorrow I need to go out and buy a wedding gift for someone."

"Oh wow. Congratulations!"

I was honestly a bit curious.

"Who is it? I might know them."

Iruka's expression brightened, a smile spreading across his entire face.

"Hatake Kakashi, a good friend of mine."

He let out a long sigh.

"I wasn't even told about this directly from him. Someone else had to break the news to me. I guess that's just Kakashi for you."

I knew they were dating, but I didn't think their relationship moved along this fast. Maybe I should go out and buy something for them too. Dango would be a good option.

The classroom door slid opened, a couple of students beginning to trickle in.

"I'll be going now. Make sure to keep up with you studies Mako-san."

I gave him a small bow as he picked up the textbooks again and made his way out of the room.

I went and sat down at my desk, practicing the hand signs I was just shown. I was definitely going to learn how to do both of those jutsu. All that was left now was to practice.

* * *

><p>AN: I'm finally getting around the having Kay learn jutsu~!<p>

The KakashiXAnko rumors shall continue! :D Just so you know, I'm not actually paring them together in this story.

I just realized something. It's this storie's two month anniversary! O_O Thank you to everyone who had been reading, faving, and all that good stuff. This is my first time ever getting so far in a story I written because I've always quit before finishing chapter 1.

More stuff to come, and thank you everyone for your support. :D


	29. Party Planning

"I can hardly believe it!"

Masuyo toasted to a nonexistent person while sitting on top of her desk like usual.

"My little sis is growing up so fast! I'm going to make her tell me all of the details when she gets back from her mission!"

She took another swig from the bottle looking completely ecstatic.

"Even if that Kakashi guy keeps denying it, I'll eventually force him to admit the truth!"

My classmates and I were all stuck in a state of limbo. Sensei wasn't her regular self so we could get away with more, but one wrong step and we'd be punished severally. Judging by the fact that my classmates reacted to her like they normally would, I guessed this was how she always acted when it came to her family.

There was no one though who had the guts to interrupt her rambling.

"Jun, you'll soon have new cousins to play with!"

I nearly choked on the gum I was chewing.

The boy next to me was reading as usual, this time a different book than before.

"Don't care."

"Twenty laps extra today!"

"Fine."

Masuyo jumped off of the desk, landing defiantly with her hands resting on her hips.

"Today calls for a celebrating! And since I have all of you at my disposal…"

Everyone collectively sunk down into their seats, trying hard not to be noticed.

In the end I was the one pointed to.

"Kato. You look old enough to pass."

She chucked a headband my way.

"You're going to go to the Hokage's building and picking stuff up from the storeroom near the main office. That headband should get you past the front door. If you have trouble finding it, ask the Hokage. We aren't drinking buddies for nothing."

"Got it."

I took the headband and tied it loosely around my neck.

Wow, surprisingly it weighed quite a lot. Probably because of the metal.

I stood up from my seat, made my way down the steps, and then headed out the door. In the background I heard more tasks and instructions being given out to the others.

…

It took me a while, but I eventually reached the right location. I straightened myself up, hoping to make it seem like I actually had the credentials to be here and knew what I was doing.

Seeing a couple ninja coming, going, and generally milling about, it made me wonder what I should do.

How should I act if I run into someone who knows me? What if I really do need to talk to Tsunade? Would she even want to see me? Wouldn't she have come and talked to me by now if she did?

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

No big deal. I just needed to get this over with. It would be better to be caught than come back empty-handed.

While entering the building I passed by several ninja I didn't recognize.

So far so good.

I continued walking past, the person at the reception desk barely looked up, busy dealing with some ninja making a complaint. I climbed up the stairs and with a bit more speed and eventually arrived at what I guessed was the correct floor.

Security was surprisingly lax around here. Maybe they did realize I wasn't actually a ninja, or they just thought I wasn't a threat. They could be just waiting for me to make my move, seeing as how if I did want to try something I was completely surrounded by highly trained ninja.

Currently I was strolling through a long hallway with windows on one side, and that turning in a curve. It made sense with the building's circular shape.

So far I had passed several doors, but none of them particularly stood out to me. I wasn't too eager to just open one oand see what was behind it without thinking it through first.

As I continued along, I eventually came to face a very large door with what looked like two Anbu standing guard in front of it. Even with the mask, I recognized one as Yuugo; mostly because of the long purple hair. The other was a guy with spiky light brown hair I didn't recognize.

I couldn't tell what facial expressions they had underneath their masks, but judging by Spiky's tone of voice it must have been one of disinterest.

"What is your business here?"

"I-I'm looking for a storage area, but all of the doors look the same to me…"

I couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh.

The Anbu silently watched me; taking is his sweet time to respond. Eventually he raised his arm and pointed to the right.

"Keep heading that way. It's the third door down."

"O-Oh. T-Thank you very much!"

I bowed, scurrying along to the pointed out location.

I squickly reached the door, this one looking the same as the others.

I'm guessing my behavior was more than a little sketchy, so it would probably be best to hurry along with this retrieval 'mission'. I grabbed the door knob and slowly turned it.

I t was locked.

This was not good. I wasn't given a key and I wasn't very eager to try and get past those Anbu to talk to the Hokage about this.

I turned the knob a couple of more time just to make sure.

Maybe I could pick the lock? I'd never done it before, but it I really have to...

"Having trouble Mako-san?"

I whipped around, instantly going into the defensive position I learned at the academy.

"…Kakashi-san?"

The familiar white haired Jonin stood in front of me, his hands gently resting in his pockets.

"Long time no see."

I could tell he was smiling, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Instead it looked almost cold, the air around him giving off some sort of unnerving chill.

"Y-Yeah."

I tried the door again, suddenly feeling a bit nervous just from standing next to him.

"Allow me."

Kakashi reached out and turned the door knob. There was a sudden cracking noise as the knob finally turned all the way. He pushed the door open, the creaking hinges echoing throughout the hallway.

"T-Thank you."

I suddenly noticed some new indents on the metal door knob.

Kakashi ushered for me to enter.

"After you."

From what I could see it was dark and dusty inside, a lone window on the far side of the room.

I entered, walling to the back side of the little room. With every small step I could feel dread coming over me. Kakashi followed in suit, the eerie smile never leaving his face.

He flipped the switch on the dim overhead lights and slowly shut the door behind him.

Without knowing why, my heart staring beating rapidly inside my chest.

Kakashi smiled even wider underneath his mask.

"Kato-san, let's talk."

* * *

><p>AN: I hope I captured the feeling I was going for here. ^^; I guess this was a kind of cliffhangery chapter. I don't really do those very often.<p> 


	30. Confrontations

The storage room was pretty small; shelves with old boxes piled on top were against three of the walls. Looking closely enough you could see sake bottles inside the worn boxes.

My mind though was on the person standing in front of me.

"I'm sure you've heard the rumors around the village, eh Kato-san?"

I nodded, not quite sure where he was going with this, but was far too nervous to speak.

"I was speaking with Sakura recently and she told me the most _interesting_ thing."

I held my breath, my brain quickly coming to a conclusion.

"Apparently, I'm dating Mitarashi Anko-san. In fact, we're even engaged_._"

He cocked his head to one side.

"Now who could have started spreading lies around like that, I wonder?"

It wasn't a question.

"S-So you're n-not dating Mitarashi-san?"

"I'm not, though I _do _wonder how someone could have come to such a conclusion."

I gulped.

"W-Women's intuition?"

He was not in the mood for humor.

"Maybe it could have been, but how would they be sure they were correct?"

I had no answer. All I could do was watch Kakashi as he continued to smile, all instincts in my body telling me to run.

He slowly came closer to me, blocking my view of the door.

"Isn't it only right that that person fix their mistakes?"

I nodded weakly as Kakashi rested his hand on my shoulder, staring straight into my eyes. I needed to say something.

"H-How?"

"Oh, well being a _ninja_, I'm sure they'll be very creative."

I glanced down at the headband that hung around my neck.

"R-Right."

Kakashi took his hand off of me and brought it back down to his side.

"I keep my promises, but that doesn't always mean I'm easy to work with."

The message was clear. He would still eventually train me, but if I didn't turn around this situation it would become a living hell.

Almost like nothing ever happened, Kakashi casually walked to the other side of the room, pulling the door open. The only thing that gave away his true feelings was the chilling aura around him.

"See you around, Kato-san."

He stepped out, closing it behind him with a loud 'squeak'.

…

Shakily, I headed back towards the academy carrying a dilapidated box in my arms. I hadn't even bothered to really check its contents; grabbing the first thing I saw before running out of the building as quickly as I could.

What did I just get myself into?

I kept stumbling along, internally cursing at myself.

Why did I say that to Sakura anyway? I mean, I did think it was cannon, but I guess it wasn't really my place to talk about things like that without knowing the context behind it.

But now I really wonder; did I just unintentionally screw up someone's life? That then leads to my next question. Does it really matter? If this was a dream and nothing I do is actually real, then is there anything really bad about it?

I want to say no, because none of this could possibly be real, yet-

Would I really be acting like I have been recently if this was real life?

If I did, I would be an extremely horrible person. Destroying private property, talking back to people, making random accusations no matter how truthful I thought they were…

Kakashi hates me. Indeed a fictional character hates me. He was actually one of my favorites in the series and I'm sure I just made his life miserable.

Way to go Kay. Way to go.

I've always prided myself on being a logical person, relying on facts to back up my statements, yet here I was without my crutch of the internet to double check everything. Even with only reading the first part of the series I should be better at putting two and two together.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

You know what; I just want to go home. I want to wake up and forget this whole thing. Then I can finally see my family and friends again and everything could just go back to normal.

Yet I can't.

I'm stuck and my next ticket out is who knows how long away.

What would I rather be doing though?

Do whatever crap I wanted and have people hate me for it or, act like a civil human being and do boring everyday things?

Dreams are supposed to fun though, but I guess not at the expense of people's lives, no matter how fictional they may be.

I need to fix this.

Not because Kakashi told me to, or because this is some sort of guilt trip; but because it's the right thing to do. I'm not a powerful ninja or really good at anything that's valued in this world. Somehow though, I'll figure it out.

Plus there's always the advantage of not being from this world, right?

I kind of just want to be my old self again. I want to look in a mirror and see my real self reflected back at me, not whatever I looked like now.

I stopped for a moment, setting the box I was carrying on the ground.

What were those hand signs again? Dog, Boar, Ram?

A strong mental picture, constant emission of chakra.

"_Transformation Jutsu!" _

Smoke clouded my vision, clearing away just as quickly as appeared.

I walked over to one of the shop windows, taking in my appearance.

It was deformed and mutated, not much accurate of my original appearance. But I finally had my brown hair back.

That made me smile a little bit.

Practice makes perfect, and even if I fail at first, I'm going to make this situation right.

* * *

><p>AN: I think this is my most serious chapter yet. I hope what I was going for came across. ^^<p> 


	31. Interrogation Techniques

Some things are easier said than done.

Turing over a new leaf; that was a kind of simple. All you really have to change is yourself. Convincing an entire village that Kakashi was in fact not actually getting married, now that was hard.

"…And that is why The Hidden Leaf Village's government is superior within the Elemental Nations."

Seriously, where the heck am I supposed to start?

"Are there any questions or comments?"

Who should I even talk to? I'm no expert…

"Anything? Anything at all?"

Well I can't exactly take a page out of Naruto's book by beating people up, solving their problems, and then making them my allies.

"Really, no one?"

Maybe I could just tell people one by one it was false; but then again I was a nobody. Why would they believe me? Though, Sakura and those people at the restaurant did in the first place. But they're only three people. I don't even know how far it's spread. Talking to people one by one would never work.

"Mako-san?"

How did it develop into them getting married anyway? Why was Iruka so convinced that he went out and bought them a present? Off of a normal rumor I doubt that people would go so far without some sort of confirmation…

I felt a poke on my shoulder, breaking me out of my thoughts.

Jun looked back at me with a neutral expression.

"Sensei is calling on you."

"Hmm?"

It was true. Iruka was standing in front of the class with a textbook in hand. He looked a bit concerned from my lack of interruptions today. The rest of the class had turned around in their seats to stare.

Over about the week and a half I had been here, my classmates had gained some sort of respect of me. Mostly because of the random fancy vocab I knew and my knowledge of political systems.

All of that was lost though when it come to sparring. There's nothing quite as humiliating as being knocked to the ground and beat up by a little kid half your height.

"Oh um, just continue on with your indoctrination of young children. Don't mind me."

What would be a good strategy though? Maybe I could tell the truth to the influential people around the village. In turn they would have credibility and spread it further. Masuyo-sensei could be a good candidate, being the sister of Anko. Maybe I could get Kakashi to once and for all deny it to a good amount of people, but it looks like he doesn't have much credibility in his own love life. That's kind of sad actually…

"Well then please pay attention! There will be a test on this next week."

"Yes Sensei."

Yeah, I'll just talk to Masuyo-sensei. Even since that party she threw for herself yesterday she's been in a great mood.

"Well then, on to our next topic, trade routes leading from Konoha to smaller countries…"

…

I wasn't able to talk to her during the next class at all, seeing as how Masuyo-sensei wasn't even there. I overheard some of the other teachers whispering around about her being hospitalized for alcohol poisoning or something like that. Thus, she wouldn't be back for a couple days.

Just my luck.

Some of my classmates were literally crying for joy at the news. Many of them began to talk among themselves about how fun class would finally be, having a _nice_ teacher for a while. One kid even suggested that she might never come back. It took them a long time to settle down from excitement after that.

Iruka-sensei was busy once again during lunch, so I sat inside and ate alone. Times like these really made me wish I had my phone to distract myself.

I took my lunch out of a bag I had begun using a backpack. It was of course a cup of uncooked ramen noodles from my stash back home.

Yeah… I still don't know how to cook. At some point I'm going to die from eating too much salt. Then again, Naruto eats ramen for every meal and hasn't gotten heart disease yet. Maybe that's just how this world works. Or it's main character immunity.

I pulled the covering off of the top, grabbing a pair of cheap wooden chopsticks to eat it with from my bag. I then proceeded to stab at the raw noodles to make it into smaller chunks. Eating uncooked ramen is actually kind of delicious. I discovered that one day after class when I felt too dead tired to try and spend the time boiling the water to make it.

Though most of the class had quickly cleared out of the room and left for recess, but I chose to stay inside and think over things over a bit more. And besides, every day when we had our lunch/recess time I had no idea what to do with myself. The last time I even _had_ recess was back in elementary school. I remember how devastated everyone was in sixth grade when we found out it was suddenly gone. We thought it was so horrible, but the older we got, the more we stopped thinking about it and lunch became that sort of time for us.

Well, back to the topic at hand…

"Why are you doing that?"

I turned my head to see Jun standing off the side and watching me, his face blank as usual.

"Oh, this?"

I suddenly realized while zoning out for a second there, I had sent pieces of uncooked noodles flying everywhere. Immediately stopping, I tried to sweep up some to the crumbs into a small pile.

"So I can eat it."

"Why? That's weird."

I stuck a chunk of food into my mouth.

"Mwou smmould tmwy mwit."

He suddenly looked a little confused, if not annoyed.

Old habits die hard I suppose.

I quickly chewed and swallowed, making sure to sure to repeat myself.

"You should try it."

No wait! Saying that could be a terrible influence on him! What if this is really that horribly unhealthy after all!?

"Or not. I mean, it's just alright. You probably shouldn't eat it all of the time or anything like that."

Like_ me_…

Once again he looked disinterested, grabbing for a book he left at his desk. I had tried to read the title once, but of course it was written in kanji.

I wondered if reading was all he did. I never really saw him interact with anyone else very much; though seeing how I never really spent time with my classmates during our free time, I wasn't really a good witness to attest to that.

He was just a little kid though, reminding me allot of my younger cousins. I would always try my hardest when my family got together to include everyone in whatever game or activity we were doing. I guess it's kind of against my morals to just allow people to be left out.

"Hey Jun-kun, what's the book you're reading about?"

He remained completely unfazed by the question.

"Stuff."

"Oh! What kind of stuff?"

"_Stuff_ stuff."

"Like what?"

"Stuff."

Ok, my attempts at socializing weren't working so well… Maybe it's time for a new angle.

"So why do you want to become a ninja?"

That question seemed to basically be the equivalent of asking a kid what they wanted to be when they grew up.

This actually got some sort of reaction out of him, but it was a scowl.

"I don't."

Geez! I'm quickly running out of generic conversation topics here!

"Why did you decide to go to the academy then?"

"My sister made me."

His sister, not his parents? I guess that really could mean anything though.

"You could always quit. I'm sure if you told her how you felt she'd understand."

He eyes widened a bit in surprise before quickly shaking his head.

"I can't. Everyone in my family is a really strong ninja."

Oh, so it really was like that for kids from ninja families. I'm sure it would be hard for anyone to go and tell their family that they wanted to do something completely opposite of their plans, especially when there are heavy expectations. My own parents had their expectations, generally having to do with getting good grades in school, going off to college, and getting involved in activities; that sort of thing. Luckily they weren't the type of people who wanted me to carry on some sort of family profession.

Wait a second. High expectation placed on you, strong ninja in the family, and questionable things about family members-

Before I knew it had stood up and slammed my hands down on the desk.

"Jun-kun! Do you currently, or have you ever had the desire for revenge?"

Now that I was towering over him and focusing with an intense stare, he looked a bit fearful, taking a step back with wide eyes.

"N-No…"

I sighed of relief, closing my eyes and sinking back down into my seat. Good, I hadn't run into some sort of Sasuke clone. I've always hated that character.

"I'm glad. Just remember, revenge is not the answer. _Ever._ Just don't do it."

"O-Okay."

I remained laying back with eyes closed for a moment, relieved that brooding kids with dark hair colors weren't destined to go off and betray everyone they knew for some less-than-well-thought-out revenge.

The more time I had to run ideas back and forth in my head, the more I began to think that it was probably for the best if I just went back and talked with Sakura. That way I can figure out where it all went wrong.

I slowly opened my eyes again, turning my head to face Jun.

Maybe I should get his take on this whole thing with his aunt; it might be a good idea to get his opinion-

…Wait. Where did he go?!

I stood up, searching through the classroom for any sign of him. I quickly gave up when I noticed that the door was suddenly left open.

Wow, he was really fast...

...

* * *

><p>AN: I had a hard time trying to come up with a follow up chapter for the last one. ^^; I was trying to come up with some grand scheme from the get go, but then I realized that if I was having a hard time trying to come up with a way to fix this, then I'm sure Kay would too.<p>

I'll figure out something eventually. :D I'm just going to have to wait for it to come to me.


	32. Side Tracking

"You seriously haven't seen her anywhere?"

"Sorry, I haven't. Have you checked the hospital or library yet?"

"Yes. Several times."

"Then I don't really know."

Good god. What was this? The fifth,_ sixth_ person I've asked today?

"Thank you for your time."

I walked away from Ayame; not even bothering to bow. Ichiraku was the last place I could think of to ask at.

I angrily kicked at the gravel on the road as I went, trying to calm myself down enough so I wouldn't yell at the next person I saw.

Where the heck was Sakura?!

Sure I'd expect to not run into her some days with how busy I'm sure she was, but for three days in a row?!

I was beginning to feel like I should just give up on the whole endeavor.

I had tried talking to people like Ino and Hinata, but they both told me they hadn't seen her recently. At some point I even brought back the one-by-one approach and started discrediting the Kakashi rumor. But the thing was that everyone looked at me like I was crazy. For some reason there was no doubt in their minds that the rumor was true.

"ARRGH!"

I pointlessly kicked the wall of the building, the only thing injured from the attack being my own foot.

"-Screw it! I don't care anymore!"

I stormed off, heading towards the training grounds on the far side of town.

I might as pull a Daichi and throw through dangerous weapons around to vent my anger and frustration. Where was the guy anyway? I hadn't seen since before I entered the academy.

I eventually arrived at the training had been using recently, generally to practice things alone without being one upped by ten year olds. Of course though it just _had _to be occupied by team Gai.

Normally I wouldn't mind being near them. No matter what people say, my friend group could be much, _much _weirder. Today though, I just wanted to be left alone.

Why did they have to train here anyway?! I already unofficially claimed it as mine, and at the moment I didn't really care how petty that was.

I turned around, beginning walk off to the next closest training ground a bit of a ways away. Just as I was about to gain a little bit of distance, I heard Lee calling after me.

"Kato-san!"

My first reaction was to snap at him, but I instead gritted my teeth and told myself to calm down. None of them had wronged me in anyway. I took a deep breath, making myself relax before turning around to face him with a plastered on smile.

I immediate jumped back, realizing that somehow Lee had just run across the entire field in a matter of seconds. He was standing about a foot away from my face.

"H-Hi Lee-san. I was just here to train. This is my usual spot."

"Oh! I didn't know that you were a ninja!"

"Ahha. Nope."

I awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck.

"I'm actually just an academy student right now."

A tall figure suddenly appeared behind him.

"Oh! In the middle of your spring time of youth I see!"

Gai came up from behind Lee and gave me a thumbs up, the sun reflecting off his teeth at just the right angle.

"I don't believe we've met Kato-san! I am Konoha's Sublime Green Beast and sensei of this team, Maito Gai!"

I bowed.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kato Mako. I haven't been in the Hidden Leaf very long, but Sakura-san was nice enough to introduce me to a lot of people including Lee-san."

He nodded, his eyes closed and his arms crossed. It looked like he was contemplating something.

"We seemed to have taken over your spot, and though you only an academy student, would you allow me to make it up and have you join us for training?"

Er…

"About how many laps do you guys usually run?"

Lee and Gai both gave me thumbs ups, looking extremely proud of themselves.

"A minimum of five-hundred laps around the village!"

Yeah, that's what I thought.

"Well…"

I shifted my feet around, trying to think of how to let them down easy.

"I'm actually just here to do some target practice…"

"I'm sure Tenten will be happy to help you then!"

Gai turned to call for Tenten, who was doing some sort training that included trying to hit Neiji with a ridiculous amount of weapons. Probably trying to hit him in a blind spot. She didn't even stop what she was doing, easily yelling back without breaking her concentration.

"Sure sensei! Just give me a couple seconds to finish up here!"

"Of Course!"

It was now Lee's turn to offer some sort of training.

"Care to join me for warm ups Kato-san?"

If his warm ups were anything like his training….

I frantically waved my hands in front of me.

"T-Thanks for the offer, but it's fine. I doubt I could keep up with you anyway."

He looked a bit disappointed at first, but almost instantaneously recovered.

"No problem! I will just warm up enough for two people!"

I don't really see the logic in that, but okay…

Lee and Gai eventually walked off to the side and went back to doing… whatever it was they were doing before I showed up. It looked like they were working on taijutsu moves or… something.

I quickly did a couple of small stretches before heading over to the targets set up near a large group of trees.

I took another deep breath, starting to feel a bit calmer. I just needed to take a moment to relax. This rumor clearly wasn't going anywhere, so a little break in my attempts to find Sakura wouldn't kill me.

I pulled a kunai out of the pouch I had been recently given, making sure to hold it the right way. I next adjusted my stance like I had been shown in class.

I threw it with as much force as I could muster, channeling my strength from my anger reserves.

The kunai whizzed through the air, digging into the target with a satisfying 'thunk'.

_Yes! _

I hit the target! It was even somewhat close to the center circle too!

Wow, this was actually very therapeutic!

"Nice job, that was really close!"

Tenten walked forward, pulling out my kunai from where it was stuck in the target.

"I think your stance is pretty good, but how you throw it needs a little work."

I watched her back up a couple of paces before demonstrating hitting the bullseye with perfect accuracy.

Adding acquiring perfect aim to the to do list.

"Your wrist needs to connect through like this, see?"

I eagerly nodded, copying what she showed me. I again threw the kunai, this time hitting just to the left of the center.

Tenten nodded approvingly.

"It looks like you have pretty good aim. Have you been practicing a lot?"

"I have whenever I can, but I've probably gotten this far from playing sports before."

Her eyes widened in a mix of surprise and confusion.

"_Sports?"_

"You know. Things like baseball, soccer, basketball, football, tennis…"

With every word her face started to look more and more blank.

"Badminton? Curling? Anything?"

Tenten shook her head.

"I-I don't think I've heard of any of those before."

What?! These guys seriously don't have sports?!

"Well,"

I tried my best to think up a way to explain.

"It's like training, but actually fun."

Lee paused what he was doing to yell over to me.

"But training _is_ fun!"

"Yes my student! I have taught you well!"

Tenten continued to stare blankly.

"It's a thing you play with other people in groups, competing for enjoyment and if you're really good, for money."

Eventually she slowly nodded.

I thought it over for a moment, the whole Sakura finding thing suddenly leaving my immediate thoughts.

"I could teach you guys one of them if you want. I mean, its exercise and you have to learn skills to play them. It really _could_ be considered training."

Hmm, what would be the easiest to teach them? Probably soccer, which now that I thought about it was also still called soccer in Japanese.

Gai went back into his thinking pose for a couple of seconds, before ecstatically giving me the okay.

"Sounds quite interesting!"

I nodded, feeling actually a bit excited about this.

"Ok, I need to get some stuff together for it, but if you want meet me here again this time tomorrow, we can start then."

"Excellent!"

Also…

"Bring others with you if you can. We need a good amount of people in order to form teams."

Lee went into some sort of dynamic pose, his eyes suddenly bursting into passionate flames. Why was it I always started suddenly hallucinating around them?

"Of course Kato-san! We shall be ready!"

Well, now that all of that had been taken care of, I really needed to get my hands on things like the goals. Luckily, I knew just the place to make them.

* * *

><p>AN: I had a huge amount of writers block for this chapter, causing me to take a depressingly long time to write it. This is my third version of this chapter, but I think I finally happy with this. The next update should be coming much faster. :D<p> 


	33. Hidden Talents

"I thought you told me you were interested in designing buildings."

The gruff older was standing over his well organized workbench; shelves upon shelves of blueprints rolled up and neatly stacked around the small dusty office building.

"Yes sir, I did."

He took his pencil, marking away while measuring and few things with a ruler. A few of the workers wandered inside, barely giving them a breather before immediately assigning them to their next task.

"Have you finished doing inventory?"

"Yes, I left all of the updated paperwork with Yukio-san."

He continued to jot down what looked like numbers and measurements, not even needing to look up when the next person wandered in.

"I can give you the extra nets and lumber, but you have to build it yourself."

That was no problem. I could just Google it-

Never mind…

I switched to my most pleasant tone of voice.

"Is there any particular reason I can't just ask one of the guys to help me..? It's usually slow this time of day."

He let out an annoyed grunt.

"Of course there is. For one we just received a huge job. The Hokage usually just makes do with cheap ninja labor, but I guess she's finally come to her senses and decided to ask the real professionals."

He sounded pretty pleased with himself after saying that.

"Secondly, it builds character. Most of the men have been building things before they could even walk. With what you're interested in, I assume you're the same way."

Not exactly…

My family is not handy. When something breaks we either throw it away, buy a new one, or mooch off of friends and family and have them fix it. I could not image my Dad ever being invested in home improvement projects. Heck, my Mom with her knowledge of how to change a light bulb was probably more advanced than my Dad's.

"I'll… try my best..."

…

I pretty quickly found our pile of discard lumber tossed haphazardly in a stack, way back in the property near the woods. They were all different shapes, some defective and others cut wrong.

I was going to need to do some major sawing to even them out.

Why did I pick soccer again?

Underneath a lot of the smaller pieces was a plank that looked like it would be perfect for the length of the goal. The only problem was that it was too long to be carried by only one person. However, the solution was simple.

I'll just do what Naruto does and make my clones do all of the work!

I'd gotten a chance for more practice when I had tried to use them to better divide up my time when looking for Sakura. I obviously didn't work, however I was now able to create and use one.

"_Clone Jutsu!"_

The usual puff of smoke to my right quickly vanished, revealing my clone. It was nicely in one piece without being completely deformed!

I was totally getting the hang of this whole magical powers thing!

My clone stared back at me, the same exact same expression on her face as my own. I messed around with expressions for good measure.

When using clones, you had to either think what you wanted them to do, or you could just say it out loud.

"I need you to go grab the other end of the board and help me carry it back to the front lot."

She nodded, walked over to the other end.

I grabbed my end, lifting it off the ground and swung it up to rest on my shoulder. Clone Mako also reached down, but for some reason couldn't get a grasp on it.

"Picking it up at one of the corners could help."

She nodded, trying again. As I watched her continue to fail, I started to notice something.

Her hands were going straight through it like it wasn't even there! Or more like she wasn't there. I mentally slapped myself, important details finally coming to mind.

The academy jutsu was the lame version of what Naruto used. The one that had basically no purpose besides being a distraction in only a chapter or two during the entire series. The clones couldn't actually touch anything.

"_Disperse."_

Dang it. I'm going to have to do this the old fashioned way.

…

There. It only took me almost two hours, but I at least had that step down.

After getting together wood that was long enough and marking off where it needed to cut, I looked over my diagram once again.

Calculating dimensions was simple enough. I had to do a bit a guessing on how big to make it, but seeing as how I didn't have an official rule book on hand, I would just have to make do.

I dug out the tools from one of the storage sheds and got to work. HGTV marathoning, don't fail me now.

You hold a saw like this right? Right?

Are you supposed to cut with or against the grain?

Do I need to cut it at an angle?

Are the nails supposed to go all the way in?

How do I attach the net?

Couldn't I just super glue this whole thing together?

Why is this so difficult?!

…

Ok, it's perfect! Totally perfect…ish!

I quickly tightened the knots that held the net in place. The sun in the sky had already faded and I was completing the finishing touches by moonlight.

They really needed some sort of flashlight jutsu for people to use.

I let out a long yawn.

Tomorrow I would need to run and grab some white spray paint and a soccer ball substitute. I would just have to make sure to get to the training grounds early and set everything up. Well, after classes and looking for Sakura _again _of course.

Heading out of the compound, I began to notice how vacant the streets were at night, the lights dim; a chill in the air. The shadows along the path back to my apartment seemed to be more menacing than ever.

Didn't I have homework due tomorrow?

I immediate dismissed the concern seeing as how unless it was math I barely did it anyway. My incomplete Japanese 1 vocab knowledge wasn't exactly the greatest help with reading any relatively difficult sentences. Besides, why the heck would I actually do my homework in a dream?

I entered a back alley shortcut, making sure to dodge over the garbage and overturned trashcans. Sketchy? Yes. Saves me a lot of time? Another yes.

There came a startling rustling sound from one of garbage cans, causing me to stop and do my new reflexive thing of going into a fighting stance.

As the sounds grew closer, I tensed, trying to see through the dark for the source of the noise.

There was a rapid movement to my right, and then a figure was suddenly rushing forward-

_meow _

_Aww~!_

It was only a cute chocolate colored cat; a bow on one ear and a color around its neck. The cat started rubbing against my leg affectionately, making me immediately go crouch down and pick it up.

It didn't struggle, and instead purred happily when I started to pet it in my arms. I took this chance to read the name tag on its collar. Luckily for me, it was written katakana.

"To-ra. Tora."

Tiger? I guess that's a kind of cute cat name.

I tried setting Tora back down, but it resisted heavily. When I finally got it off of me, instead of heading off to where it came from, it decided to follow me home. All the way home. To my front door in fact.

I think I may have just involuntarily adopted someone else's pet.

* * *

><p>AN: Because no self insert fanfic is complete without the random appearance or Tora! Wow, than ending was really cliche. XD<p> 


	34. A Lesson in Culture

"And… done."

I tossed to empty spray can to the side, stepping back to admire my handiwork. The lines were pretty straight all things considered; the markings for the specific zones all added. I may have just killed the grass and polluted the earth in the process, but eh, it would be worth it.

Probably.

I had gotten some help beforehand to have the finished goals brought over to the training field and set in their correct spots. The goals seemed to be holding together pretty well.

I turned to face my competitors, all nicely standing lined up shoulder to shoulder. Along with team Gai, team Asuma also came. Asuma in general looked disinterested, standing a bit apart from the group and smoking. Ino looked pretty ecstatic, Shikamaru bored, and Choji was busy snacking on chips. Team guy minus Neji looked excited to be here, Tenten as cheerful as ever.

I picked up my newly painted soccer ball substitute, tucking it under one arm and getting ready to go into explaining mode.

"Alright then."

I took a nice deep breath before speaking.

"I guess I'll start by telling you guys a bit of the history of game we're playing."

I paused for a moment, trying to drag up the correct information from the recesses of my mind.

"The name of this sport is soccer; or football depending on where you live. There's this whole historical reasoning behind it and an ongoing debate on what it should be called, but I'm not really going to get into that. We'll just be calling it soccer."

Ino raised her hand looking a bit confused.

"Who's fighting over it?"

"A lot of different… _villages, _though I think most of it is coming from people living within the villages."

I turned back to my original discussion.

"So there are two teams that play against each other. You want to get the ball in your opponent's net in order to score points- Yes, Lee-san?"

"Do we fight with each other for the net then?"

"No, you just go for the ball."

"Oh! So we fight each other for the ball!"

"Wha- no! That I'm sure is totally illegal! You want to maneuver around to try and the ball _without_ attacking each other.

"But where is the fighting then?"

God so help me-

"You fight by trying to score goals and win! The person with the most points by the end wins the 'fight' or what we call the game."

He looked a little stumped.

"But why is it fun then? I don't understand."

"Millions or people watch it and play it. Just trust me."

"M-Millions?! Are there really such a number of people in the world?"

He looked pretty blown away at the statement.

Probably shouldn't break his mind by telling him that there are actually billions. How many people populated the Naruto world anyway?

"That's an… um… _exaggeration_, but you get my point."

The group quickly quieted back down as I continued on with my explanation.

"You can only use your feet when playing unless you're the goalie. The goalie blocks the ball from being kicked in the net."

I moved to explain the different positions in soccer, and then the basic rules. There were a few more questions, but I think I eventually pounded into their brains that they weren't supposed to actually injure one another.

"Ok,"

I dropped the ball onto the ground, beginning to dribble it back and forth with my feet.

"This is one of the basic skills used in soccer called dribbling. You want to make sure to use the side of your foot instead of where your toes are so you have better control over the ball."

I kicked the ball over to Shikamaru who somehow skillfully yet lazily stopped it with his foot.

"Yes, you stop the ball just like that. So I guess next…"

I suddenly started to hone in on my inner soccer coach. If I was going to do this, I might as well do it right.

I grabbed the bag of newly painted soccer balls that lay at my feet. I had spent my entire lunch period painting the familiar black and white pattern onto a bunch of sturdy looking kickball's I had bought earlier that morning. The material wasn't too similar to the original, but in the end I decided it was probably the best I was going to get. Jun watched me for a little while, mostly just sneaking a look out of the corner of his eye while reading, eventually asking me what I was doing.

I explained to him the game, and he actually looked pretty interested so I invited him to come. When I explained though that he would be going up against trained ninja he immediately changed his mind.

Was it really that scary of a scenario?

Well anyway, I had them all line up a bit of a distance away from one of the goals. You could tell who was excited and who wasn't by what order they lined up in. Lee was first followed by Gai, then it was Tenten and Ino, Choji, Asuma, and Shikamaru and Neiji were somehow tied for last.

"Alright, now that everyone is set up, I'll quickly demonstrate how to do goal kick and then all of you will follow in the order that you're standing."

I put one of the soccer balls on the ground, readying myself for the kick. It had been a while since I'd played soccer, so I wasn't feeling too confident in my abilities.

Wait…

Now that I thought about it, this whole situation was kind of surreal. I was actually teaching highly trained ninjas something they didn't know.

Huh.

I pulled my leg back and then swung through, kicking the ball up through the air to nicely land inside the net. I went over to take it out, tossing the ball back near the bag.

"We'll cycle through with everyone taking turns kicking. Then we'll move on to practicing passing. Afterwards we can actually start."

I heard some mumbling coming from Shikamaru.

"…Is it supposed to be so lopsided?"

"What is?"

"The goal or whatever it's called."

"Er…"

When you actually looked closely at the finished product in direct sunlight, the goal did seem a little tipped over to one side. Though the wood types were a little mismatched I did my best to use similar widths and sand it down nicely.

"N-No, but just uh, just consider it an added challenge."

I heard him mutter something about it all being a drag. I almost forgot that was his catchphrase.

Quickly I waved the next person forward.

"Lee-san, you're up first. Go ahead."

I backed up a couple paces after setting down a ball in front of him. Lee turned to give me a thumbs up.

"Seems interesting! I shall give it my best Kato-san!"

After being kicked, with what looked like a blur, the ball shot through the air and flew right through the net, leaving a gaping hole behind.

D-Did that really just-?

I leaned in for closer inspection.

Oh, it went right through a tree behind it too. How nice.

I walked over to collect the scraps of material and the sad remains from a crater in a nearby rock the ball was stopped by.

As I limply headed back to grab a new soccer ball out of the bag, I silently wept over my hours of wasted time making this stuff. I looked up at Lee who was smiling brightly, making me feel suddenly very drained at the prospect of what I was trying to accomplish.

"L-Lee… can I just call you Lee? I honestly not sure if I'm correctly using honorifics half the time."

He gave me a bright smile.

"Of course Kato-san! How well did I do?"

I kinda wanted to tell him _exactly _how well he did, but I quickly changed my mind. It wasn't like he really knew better.

"Just… please don't break my stuff… You really don't need to kick that hard…"

I raised my voice enough for everyone to hear my clearly.

"That goes for everyone! If you break something then you're using too much strength! That's not the point of the game!"

A couple of people gave me looks of sudden understanding, especially Ino who looked particularly like she just had an epiphany.

"Oh! So this is more stealth based then Mako-chan?"

"Yes! No! I-"

ARGGHHH!

Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

"I-I guess you could think of it like that if you wanted too. You are maneuvering around people to get the ball and trying to catch them off guard to take it from them."

"Oh, ok! Got it!"

"Y-Yay…"

I quickly broke myself away from whatever clarifications I was probably never going to fully make.

"Ok, anyways. Back to what we were originally doing, Gai-san you're up next."

He stepped up eagerly, flashing a thumbs up to me and everyone behind him.

"Alright then! What closely my students!"

I took a little sigh of relief. Gai would be a great example for everyone by honing in his massive strength.

"_Dynamic Kick!"_

You know, that doesn't look like he's holding back much at all-

Crap.

"Wait! Please don't-!"

And- there goes another innocent tree.

…

"So… does anyone know a jutsu that repairs stuff?"

* * *

><p>AN: I apologize for how long it took me to update. TT_TT I was off on a trip for several days and then my computer's hard drive crashed on me. I really hate not being able to update for such a long time.<p> 


	35. Flashback Extra

AN: Written 6/29/15 (_Much_ later than I wrote the chapters surrounding this extra one) I finally wrote something to fill up the empty space! :D This is a flashback surrounding Kay's sister who's been vaguely mentioned before. **_Warning_**: There is some potential spoilerific stuff in here, depending on how on how you look at it. It could also be seen as foreshadowing, but if you want to be safe come back after you've read chapter 49. It's really nothing big, so you should be fine reading it.

Kay and her sister Maria are about three years apart in age from what I've decided, so this takes place about two years before the current story. (I think. Haven't quite figured out everything concretely yet.)

* * *

><p>My sister Maria, well, it's safe to say that sometimes I really didn't get her. That fact that we lived with one another for basically our entire lives made it pretty easy to become well aware of each other's hobbies. Anime and manga was her thing, but it definitely wasn't mine.<p>

"Kay, watch One Piece with me!"

"Kay, you have to check out this Madoka Magica show with me!"

"Kay, you need to start watching Naruto so that I can talk about the new chapters with you!"

"What do you mean you don't like Death Note?"

"Come to a convention with me so that we can do my Natsu and Happy group cosplay together!"

I had been innocently browsing my YouTube subscription feed one day while enjoying my well deserved summer vacation when my sister had decided that she needed a buddy to watch whatever show that had caught her attention recently.

She kept poking me on the arm while I used my laptop at the desk in my bedroom, sitting my comfy office chair and trying to block out her pestering with the music I had been loudly playing on another tab.

"Watch with me! C'mon! It'll be fun!"

I batted her hand away, trying to ignore her best I could. It wasn't working so well.

"I swear you'll like this one!"

I groaned, the newest video from my favorite Youtuber taunting me.

"No, go away…"

"But I'm your big sister! You're supposed to respect your elders and do what they tell you!"

"And what if that elder was the head of some crazy cult who wanted me to join and then commit mass suicide?"

She tugged at my arm, spinning me around in the chair and pulling the ear buds out from my head in the process.

If you were to look at the two of us side by side it would be pretty obvious that we were related. She had the same blue eyes, brown hair and light skin, and rounded face shape. Unlike me though, she always kept her hair up in a sleek high pony tail, makeup immaculate. I'm pretty sure at some point she asked my Mom for tips to learn to get it that way, but I'd never bothered to do the same. While I was always on the more casual side of the fashion spectrum, Maria was not. If you didn't know her you'd probably peg her as one of those stereotypical "popular" people. But if you looked closely enough and knew your anime, you could tell she wore a lot of minimalistic merchandise from different shows that she always watched. I would know. She pointed out to me every single purchase.

She was smiling with a wide grin, pulling for me to stand up and come with her, which as this thing usually went, I did.

"Okay, _fine_. What show is it?"

"That's a surprise!"

I groaned. That usually meant I'd probably detest it off of the title alone.

We walked down the hallway and into her room, the sounds of my parents talking loudly coming up from downstairs through the open door. If they were talking that loudly (aka emotionally) about anything, it was probably money.

I plopped down on the floor in front of the TV, burying my face in hands.

"Can we shut that please?"

"Yeah, of course."

She closed the door, shuffling through her anime DVD collection on one of the shelves, pulling out one with a bubblegum pink plastic case.

"You know they only get so upset about that stuff because they just care about us, right?"

"I know. I just wish they would care a little _quieter_. Plus I don't even _want_ to go back to our old school anymore. I have friends here now."

She opened up the DVD tray, slipping the disk inside.

"When I go off to college this fall they'll probably quit with that whole spiel finally. I think it might just be a pride thing for them. They want to give us the best they can and it kills them when they can't."

"Our parents aren't supposed to have pride issues. They're supposed to be perfect."

"Parents and perfection don't go together. They're only human."

"Wow, you almost seem like a mature adult when you say that."

"Hey! I _am_ an adult! I'm eighteen now!"

"Keep telling yourself that."

Maria quickly skipped through the previews, the title card finally popping up for the show I'd be subjected to.

"You'll love it! It's great!"

"Ouran High School Host Club? This is romance, isn't it…"

"Just give it a chance! You have to watch at_ least_ a couple of episodes with me before you decide to drop it like everything else."

"Okay, fine. Just know that I don't care about dumb romance."

"You have friends who like this stuff, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Maybe I should invite them over to watch with me instead! We can form our own cosplay group too and talk about our anime crushes and write fanfiction together!"

I returned her comment with a look of horror.

"No! That's weird! I don't want my sister to hang out with my fiends!"

She started laughing, wiping away a few tears as they sprung to her eyes.

"Sorry… Couldn't resist. Your face though…"

"Shut up."

"I'm going to miss you while I'm at college."

My eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Of course! You're my little sister after all. Who else would put up with me forcing them to watch my stuff with them?"

As much as she annoyed me with her hobbies, a part of me enjoyed it more than I would admit out loud.

"I'll miss you too. I don't think my friends will be as effective in getting me to watch their favorite anime."

Our talking died down a bit as the opening song started, Maria singing along to the theme song by heart, only pausing to poke me as I silently judged what I found to be a really cheesy song.

"You should sing too! It's fun!"

"I don't like singing."

"Oh come on! I know you do! I hear you singing to whatever music you listen to on your computer all the time. You're just embarrassed of what people will think of you."

I felt my face flush red.

"Shut up."

"Just join choir already! I know you want to!"

"Maybe…"

"And I am going to pretend you just told me 'yes', because you are going to. I promise to try and get home from school for your first concert. I'll cheer for you and everything!"

"If I promise to join, promise me that you won't cheer or make a scene."

She held out her hand to shake.

"It's a done deal."

I grabbed it and shook, a small smile creeping to my face.

As the show started, we quickly settled into our comfortable routine of me criticizing what we were watching while Maria tried to pitch what she thought what made it so good.

Maybe I didn't really get her fascination with all of this Japanese stuff, but that didn't really mean much in the grand scheme of things. She was still my sister, and that counted for much more. And maybe one of these days I'd find an anime I actually liked. Hopefully though unlike my sister, anime wouldn't take over my life.

She was really obsessed.

"By the end of this you have to pick your favorite guy! This year I want to cosplay as two of them! Maybe we can recruit some of my friends and yours and make a big group!"

I groaned.


	36. The Epic Conclusion

If there was one definite thing I had to say about ninja, it would be that they could adapt to new things extremely fast. The rate at which these guys were starting to pick this stuff up was insane.

I might have been _slightly _jealous of their athletic abilities. But hey! Now that I was learning the ways of the magical ninja, with years of hard work and dedication I sure that I could-

Oh who was I kidding. There is no way I would be willing to stick around that long.

I watched in amazement as Lee and Tenten kicked the ball back and from opposite ends of the field with ease. The others were also doing something similarly impressive; but I was able to tell that they were getting bored with this fast.

It was time to finally start the game.

For ninja soccer though, there were a couple new rules that had to be added.

Firstly, no using chakra for anything other than staying alive and breathing. Shikamaru had been using his shadow techniques at first to stop the ball when it got too far away from him. It kind of felt like cheating to me… A couple of them also had been using chakra to speed up their movements, which I felt was kind of unnatural boost.

Secondly, though there was no way to really implement it, I put a speed limit on them. If all I could see of you was a blur, then you're going too fast. This rule was more for my benefit as a ref.

I called them back over to where I was, grabbing all of the extra soccer balls and putting them away.

After clapping my hands together to get everyone's attention, I did a quick analysis inside my head.

"Okay, I think that now that everyone's pretty much got the basics down, we can start."

I heard a few cheers coming from Ino's direction, the rest also now looking pretty psyched, even Shikamaru.

"So for teams…"

With my added restrictions, it seemed really unfair to have both of the insanely powerful taijutsu users on the same team. In order to balance it out I needed to do some shuffling.

"On the left side of the field we'll have Gai-san, Ino, Choji, and Neiji. On the right side will be Asuma-san, Shikamaru, Tenten and Lee."

I could see them sudden tearing up of Gai and Lee as they reached for one another.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

The volume increased.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!

As I watched everyone else's expressions, they looked like this was a totally normal occurrence. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

"Gai-sensei!"

"L-Lee, you'll just have to do your very best, even against me."

Lee wiped away his tears, giving Gai a thumbs up.

"Of course Sensei!"

Tenten dished out some inspiring words for Lee, and he was once again fired up.

I shifted my feet uncomfortably, trying hard to not stare too much.

"Right… Anyways, go ahead and go to your spots. You'll need to figure out who's playing what position. In actual soccer there are usually more people on each team, but we'll just work with what we've got."

Asuma for the first time actually spoke to me. He tossed his cigarette on the ground and put it out with the heel of his shoe.

"Mako…-san. What will you be doing then?"

Definitely not just standing around with these guys for players.

"I'll be acting as referee; making sure to call goals, fouls, and penalties. I'm here to make sure everything goes smoothly."

And plus, if I did play, I'm sure I'd either break something or trampled to the ground in the first few seconds. I'd like to stay out of the crossfire thank you very much.

He slowly nodded before walking towards his people towards the goal.

"Ok team, this way!"

Team Gai quickly went to the other side.

You know, this whole ended up being a _lot _more work than I anticipated. Next time, I'm just going to teach them something simple; like ping pong. Yeah, ping pong. That sounds nice and not very complicated.

But somehow, my hopes for it turning out that way weren't very high.

It was kind of crazy how this stuff was all coming back to me after only playing soccer for two summers. Sure I played some in gym class, but I took that time as an opportunity to be a slacker.

Everyone got into their places as I grabbed a soccer ball and a ryo coin for the coin toss out of my pack.

The Naruto currency looked exactly the same on both sides; so I took what was the ninja equivalent of a sharpie and I crudely scribbled George Washington's face on one side, and the eagle on the other, in some strange attempt to recreate the US quarter. I probably could of just written 'heads' and 'tails' and English, but I guess there was no point in cutting corners now.

The two people playing offence, Lee and Neiji walked up to the center ring.

"Alright, I need one of guys to call it. Either heads or tails."

Neiji let out an slight annoyed huff, crossing his arms.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Ah Neiji, there is a reason one of my most fulfilling moments of the series is when you got your precious ego shattered and then promptly pummeled to the ground by Naruto. But… that was younger Neiji. I'm sure older Neiji probably did some growing up.

"I need you to guess what it lands on. Heads is the side with the head, and tails is the side with the eagle."

"How does that make any sense?"

I pondered this for a moment.

"You know, I not really sure… I should go and consult Wikipedia on that one sometime."

Neiji just stared.

"Who is Wuikipedeia?"

Oh… Did I just say that last part out loud…?

"He is… uh, and a great elder from my village. Many people go to him to learn the wonders of the universe. Probably not as much as elder Google though, because elder Wikipedia isn't always that reliable..."

As my explanation dragged on, he was started to look increasingly annoyed.

"I pick heads."

"And I shall have tails then Kato-san!"

I have them both a nod.

"Alrighty then."

I flipped the coin up into the air, and let it quickly fall to the ground. Upon closer observation-

"Tails. Lee, which side do you want to be on first?"

He looked a little confused.

"What about where we are now?"

Oh…

Whoops.

In my attempts to make this for only four people on each team, I forgot some important stuff. The team captains are supposed to do the coin toss, and _then _theychoose sides. Neiji and Lee were just the forwards instead of having any actual titles.

Note to self: write these rules out for myself some time.

"Sorry, I got a couple things mixed up. Next time I'll do it correctly. For now though just consider yourselves temporary team captains."

Lee looked absolutely thrilled, and I could tell Neiji was somewhat pleased with this decision too.

"I will make sure to live up to everyone's expectations!"

"Anyway, that means that now Neiji's team get's to kick off which I explained earlier."

What soon followed next was what had to be my more memorable soccer game ever. Whatever hopes I ever had of becoming a professional soccer player were instantly dashed in one fell swoop.

No, not just that. How they played was insane. There was so many acrobatics involved and high jumps that it felt like it defied the laws of physics.

The excitement of watching professional soccer was forever ruined for me.

I feel like I'm now qualified to ref in any possible scenario now. It's not every day you get to penalize someone for standing on top of the net. Still not sure if it's _technically_ illegal…

Afterwards I doubled checked the tallied score I scribbled down on some paper before making the announcement.

I looked up to see the eight players, all worn out and drenched in sweat. Several were panting to catch their breath. The more notable thing though was the field itself. The sudden appearance of a giant crater defiantly caught one's attention, and the fact that the entire ring of trees around the field had been basically bulldozed over would be another.

Ino looked practically on fire with excitement.

"So Mako-chan! Who won?"

"Well, when I added it all up, it looks like-"

I could see several intense stares boring into me.

Hold for dramatic pause…

"Team Asuma. Nice strategizing Shikamaru-san in the second half."

"Aw! Come on!"

"See Gai-sensei! I made you proud!"

"Good job everyone."

"Thanks Asuma-sensei."

I gently flopped over onto my back.

Now that that was done, after cleaning up this giant mess I really needed to get back to my original objective. Time was quickly ticking by.

"Mako-chan! What do they get for winning anyway?"

"Hmm?"

I got back up into a sitting position to find Ino standing right above me, frowning, but there was still a sparkle in her eyes.

After immediately flinching into my defensive position, I relaxed back to normal and gave her what I felt like should have been the obvious answer.

"What I've been receiving as a prize for years now. The joy of winning."

"Oh… That's kind of… lame."

"Yes, yes it is."

Tenten walked up to us from the busted field, reattaching the giant scroll she picked back up from the sideline as she went.

I happily gave her a small wave. Tenten was such a nice person. She could practically get along with anyone, and it was thanks to her that the refereeing went so well between the two teams. I hadn't realized how intense Neiji and Lee's rivalry could be.

She waved back, smiling cheerfully.

"Hey Mako-san!"

"Hello! Do you have any more questions about the game?"

She shook her head, adjusting her scroll again as she clipped it in place.

"No, but Mako-san, I was wondering if I could bring you somewhere to show you something."

I reeled back in surprise, Tenten blinking a couple of extra times in confusion, the corners of her mouth slightly faltering.

Was someone _actually_ asking me to hang out?! You mean I might not be stuck hanging around fifth-graders for the rest of my time here? I hadn't really been asked to hang out by anybody since the bathhouse incident, and the apology dinner didn't really count.

Realistically though, and as much as I regretted it; I felt dead tired and practically everything hurt. My feet were killing me from hours of standing around and running from place to place.

Even though I was going to ninja school, I still hadn't mastered the endurance part. It killed me a bit to do this, and especially to such a nice person; but I had to decline, if only for my own sanity.

I tried to sound as apologetic as possible as I said the next sentence.

"Thank you for the offer, but I think I just really need to go home and sleep right now. I'm really worn out. Could it work another time?"

Her smile seemed to freeze for a moment on her face, eyes boring into me. I flinched back a little under her stare.

"Well, it would be _kind of_ hard to show you later. It won't take too long."

Wow, she's acting really insistent about this. Still though…

"I'm really sorry, but the homework is starting to pile up, and I still have a big favor to do for someone."

Her smile only grew stiffer, a layer of sickly sweetness added to her tone.

"_Really_, let's go."

My heart started to beat faster, radars going off in my head.

"W-What is it exactly?"

The volume of her voice dropped, Tenten crouching down to get closer.

"A surprise for someone. I wanted to let you in on the secret."

Um…

"But why?"

In a flash, her expression relaxed back to normal.

"It's for someone we both know. I thought you'd like be part of the plan for it."

Oh.

Was that really it? She almost appeared menacing there for a moment…

Ah ha.

"I guess so then…?"

Tenten looked pretty happy with my answer, perking up almost immediately. She turned around for a second to call back over to Gai.

"Gai-sensei! I'll be back soon!"

He gave her a slight nod from where he was standing talking with Asuma.

"Go ahead my student!"

Tenten immediately began to exit the training grounds, motioning for me to follow her.

I got back up my strained feet, quickly regretting the decision but deciding to suck it up and deal with it anyway.

* * *

><p>AN: This is the first new chapter of edits that are going to be posted soon. I decided to divide the old chapter up into three new chapters because of how much added stuff there was.<p>

I pretty much just changed the ending here, hopefully making it a bit more mysterious. I think I might also go back and add a couple more hints for what is going to be revealed soon. :D


	37. Anger

We weaved through the village streets, Tenten always several steps ahead. There was a little small talk, but most of it resulted in one word answers.

I noticed how tense she suddenly became once we entered a more secluded warehouse district.

It couldn't have been from being in a sketchy location; she was a ninja. There was no way Tenten was afraid of being mugged. Plus, all of the buildings seemed to be in a nice condition, though many wooden building's paint was pealing with age. There were a lot of them packed together, not many people moving about.

I couldn't get a good look at her face unfortunately, though I'm not sure how much clarity it would really have given me.

Eventually, we reached a large plain two story building that perfectly matched the style of the rest of the area. Tenten paused for a moment before pushing the side door open, knocking in some sort of pattern.

Wow, these guys were really going through all of the secret keeping motions, huh?

Tenten went in first, I following a bit hesitantly behind her into a small hallway as someone closed the door behind us.

My mind ran back to the simple attack and defense patterns I had finally learned earlier this week; my hand reaching to be close to my kunai pouch.

You can never be too careful in the Naruto world.

We soon approached another door.

"Right this way."

I followed her inside, but not before taking one last look behind me.

The first thing I noticed when I entered was how loud it was in the room.

…Was that construction work I was seeing?

The building itself was pretty much just one giant open room. People were scattered about doing various things that looked like-

No that couldn't be right… Those flowers could be for anything! Ok, that did look slightly like an alter, and they did have a lot of chairs in here-

The thing that really shook me from my analysis was that I had finally found Sakura. She was standing on top of a crate in the room, clipboard in hand and giving orders to the workers around her. Some I recognized from the Construction depot. Everyone though seemed to be too preoccupied to notice our entrance.

As many of the elements slowly started to come together, I could feel my mouth slowly dropping open.

"…Is Sakura planning a wedding?!"

Tenten just solemnly nodded, her focus not straying from the work going on around us.

"She, Ino and Hinata decided to do this for Kakashi-sensei."

I wanted to flail out like a little kid and have a temper tantrum then and there.

THOSE GUYS LIED TO ME! THEY CLAIMED THEY HAD NO IDEA WHERE SAKURA WAS!

Then I did all of that running around for days on end for _absolutely nothing_….

Muderisnottheanswermurderisnottheanswermurderisnottheanswermurderisnottheanswer

I turned to Tenten, trying my best to real in my anger.

"You _do_ know that the Anko-san and Kakashi-san aren't actually together right?"

She nodded, expression not changing.

"I know."

Hallelujah! At least someone sees the light!

I was about to burst out into tears of joy before my thoughts caught up with me.

Why was I suddenly being let in on all of this? Plus why was it Tenten who was asking? We barely knew one another. Had she seen me trying to convince people earlier?

"But why am I here?"

Her eyes narrowed, eyebrows scrunching together.

"Something needs to be done."

I couldn't agree more. She was probably just looking for someone to help her that saw it the same way.

"I think so too, but why do you care? I mean, it's not like he's your sensei or anything."

She suddenly tensed up, body freezing to the spot.

"Tenten-san? Are you oka-"

I found myself being forcefully dragged off into an empty corner, practically ripping my arm off in the process.

One we were out of the view of the workers, Tenten clamped her hands tightly down on my shoulders, staring me down fiercely.

"Wikipedia."

H-Huh?

"Um, do you want me to contact elder Wikipedia or something? I mean, he's back at my village so-"

"Soccer."

I felt even more confused.

"Yes, that is the thing we were just doing-"

"Google. Baseball. Basketball. Football. Tennis. Badminton. Curling."

I could feel my heart rate suddenly accelerating again.

Why was she bringing up stuff I said about the real world? Why did she care?

…Maybe she figured out the truth that people didn't think was real?

Something was just not right with Tenten today. This whole confrontation wasn't adding up. As a ninja I could understand wanting to protect the village, but this was a wedding!

"I-Is there something you want to ask me?"

Tenten's eyes narrowed, grip on my shoulders becoming strong enough that it started to hurt.

"_Tell me_. What do all of these things have in common?"

"I-I um-"

I could feel myself starting to shake, a bone chilling aura radiating of off her. I silently begged for someone to notice, but the rest of the area was blocked from my view by stacks of crates.

Tenten had picked a good spot. No one noticed us or could hear over the noise.

I gulped.

"I said them…?"

"Exactly."

I had to do a double take on that response.

"H-Huh? Seriously?!"

She nodded, letting go of my shoulders in exchange of a sudden kunai to the throat.

My heart skipped a beat.

"Hey- D-Don't you think this is a b-bit drastic?"

Tenten ignored me with a murderous glare.

"What do you think you're trying to do?"

"I-"

Wait.

This all seemed very off for some reason. It was more than just anger radiating off of Tenten in droves. It was almost-

Almost like she was another person entirely. It felt oddly familiar.

Quoting back my words to me, the out of character responses, an odd fascination with this non-cannon event-

"-Are you really Tenten?"

The girl raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you ask that?"

Heck, if I was going to die here I might as well tell the truth.

"N-Nothing adds up. I don't get why anyone would get so upset over a few strange words. Plus in my opinion Tenten has been such a two-dimensional undeveloped character that I don't think she's capable of acting like this. She has about three defining personality traits and the fact that she uses weapons is one of them."

The girl's eyes widened considerable amount, kunai lowering from its position on my neck.

She quickly back away at an incredible speed, leaving me to do the same.

We stood in tense silence for a couple of seconds, the construction noise behind us filling in the blank space.

Eventually the girl looked up, her features drained of color, voice volume dipping down several notches.

"You know, at first I just thought this was some random event that happened during the two and a half years before Shippuden that one ever saw; but when I noticed you knew things people from this world weren't supposed to, I started to wonder."

Wait- She knows about all that? How? Does that mean-

Without notice her eyes were once again filled with suffocating killing intent.

"But today just proved it to me. You're the real reason this is all happening. I heard the rumor from Sakura, who told me she heard it from you."

I was still too stunned to know what to say, but holy crap. Nothing is making sense to me. My heart was pounding so hard I was afraid I was going to have a heart attack then and there.

"Do you _know_ how many hard years of my hard work you're about to ruin?!"

W-What did I do to her?! Why am I the target here? I could understand why Kakashi had something against me, but why her?!

My mind just could not process this at all the moment.

"T-This has to be some kind of joke."

Her eyes narrowed.

"I'm afraid it isn't."

I took a step back, trying to desperately grab a weapon for comfort, ignoring how much my hands were shaking.

A small voice in my head continued to tell me how pointless it really was. She was a trained ninja. I'd be dead before I could do anything.

I told it to shut up.

The girl wasn't quite done talking yet.

"I've spent all of this time making sure not to mess with cannon, but then_ you _come along and screw up everything for me!"

She walked forward, easily closing in the gap.

My fingers had finally found a kunai handle, but I paused.

"B-But why?"

I could see veins bulging, her face turning a bright shade of red.

"_Why?!"_

That question must have been her breaking point. It was when she really snapped.

"_Why?! _Because I don't want the people I care about to die!"

She then spouted several choice words directed towards me.

I froze to the spot as she swore, my mind failing to process any of this. Just what exactly did people dying have to do with a non-cannon wedding?

Maybe that was pretty low on the list of things I should have been asking myself at the moment, but honestly; it did not correlate for me at all. My fear somehow drifted away enough for it to ask this too.

"I know some people say marriage is like a piece of them is dying inside, but isn't that a little drastic…?"

I flinched back at a punch stopped right in front of my face.

Bad choice of words.

"_Y-You…"_

The ninja pulled back her fist which I noticed was subtly shaking, her face contorting.

"Don't get _anything_ at all."

I stood dumbstruck as she paced around the little corner, face buried in her hands. She didn't speak to me for the longest time, only muttering quietly to herself as she walked around.

It felt awkward just standing there, not to mention nerve racking. The girl was pretty unpredictable with these mood swings. It did however give me a moment to process.

Tenten, or whoever she is, was stuck in the Naruto world just like me. During my short stint of reading _way_ too much Naruto fan fiction, I think I read a few self inserts in there.

I wasn't alone in this.

And I'm not sure whether to be happy or sad about that.

The girl eventually stopped, turning to look at me with a steady stare.

"Neiji and Lee. Those two are like little brothers to me. I won't let _anything _happen to them, _understand_?"

I felt inclined to nod.

She exhaled before sporting a new, more relaxed frown.

"I didn't do anything at first because I thought this was just the plot of some dumb filler arc, but by the time I figured it out…"

Her posture crumpled.

"You know the domino effect right? One small change leads to another, then another, and so on?"

"Y-Yes…?"

"Who knows what will happen if this all goes through? I won't be able to know the future anymore."

Ah.

Things were making sense again.

I frantically waved my hands in front of me.

"Don't worry; I was already trying to fix this!"

She quickly snapped back at my comment.

"Yeah, well you better hurry it up then! They're planning to throw this surprise wedding the day Anko gets back from her mission!"

My thoughts were once again spinning.

"W-Why are they doing this? How could they just up and throw a wedding without confirmation?"

I could see her facial expression twitching pretty badly.

"Ino and Sakura just decided to do this and Hinata somehow also go involved the way."

Uh…

"Why would people believe them?"

"I'm not sure. I think Tsunade-sama just went along with it because she wanted to do something to thank Kakashi and raise general moral."

I groaned.

"Of course."

Tenten buried her face in her hands.

I couldn't help but gently pat her on the shoulder. I finally understood where her frustrations laid.

"But it's not like Anko would actually go through with this right?"

"I think she would."

"_What?!"_

The girl limply nodded.

"She'd probably just go along with it to screw with people, and then divorce Kakashi later."

I felt like crying.

"That wouldn't do anything to clear up the rumor… But what about Kakashi? He wouldn't knowingly show up here."

"That's why it's being kept a huge secret. Everyone has been told to keep it very hush hush."

"Well, you told me pretty easily."

"I needed to see if you were who I thought you were."

"…Point taken."

Another long pause.

"So… Uh, what country are you originally from?"

"Canada."

"…Naruto fan?"

"Not much anymore."

We just stood awkwardly across from one another.

"…I'm going to go over and talk to Sakura. Hopefully I can convince her."

Tenten nodded.

"I've tried to, but nothing has worked so far."

How deluded about this pairing could people be?

…

I approached were Sakura was standing, but she didn't even notice me until I loudly called out her name. Before she could say anything, I immediately cut in,

"Sakura-chan, everything I told you about Kakashi-san and Anko-san was completely wrong. I was completely and utterly mistaken. None of it was true at all."

She looked at little surprised at my outburst, but easily tossed out her rebuttal.

"What do you mean?"

Sakura gave me the same look many people had lately. Like I was absolutely crazy and didn't know what I was talking about.

"I got it wrong. I'm really sorry for misleading you like that."

To my surprise, Sakura just smiled back.

"You shouldn't apologize Mako-chan, it turns out you were right after all!"

Uh… _No_…

If Kakasi's reaction was anything to go by, I was very_, very_ wrong.

"…Why do you say tha-"

Sakura turned for a moment to shout out some directions to one of the workers. Once she recited a couple of tasks, Sakura brought her full attention back.

"Sorry, I've been very busy lately. What was it you were saying?"

"I just wanted to know why you now I think what I said before was correct."

Sakura blinked a couple of times in confusion.

"I spoke with Tsunade-sama about all of this first of course, and she confirmed it all as true."

"Are you_ completely _sure?"

She nodded.

Okay, I was definitel_y_ not going crazy. There was no freak'n way this was now suddenly a thing. I guess I could understand why she would believe Tsunade over me. First of all she was the Hokage, and I hadn't really known Sakura that long. We were far from being best friends. But still, I needed to break through to her.

"Sakura-chan…"

I could feel the oncoming head ache starting to form.

"I think the Hokage was mistaken."

She looked like I had just slapped her in the face.

"Tsunade-sama knows Kakashi-sensei better than almost everyone! I _think_ she'd be right!"

There was a long stare down between the two of us, I being the first one to flinch back and divert my eyes after a long couple of seconds.

I was getting nowhere fast with this approach. The only thing I was succeeding at was ticking off Sakura. I guess insinuating that someone's master who they deeply respect is a liar might be a bad idea…

Making people hate me seems to be my specialty as of late.

"Just… Just what can I do to convince you?"

Sakura just shrugged; though I noticed a slight narrowing of her eyes before looking down to flip through her clip board.

"If she changes her mind and tells me just that."

Well, I guess at least now I had a goal in mind. But talking with Tsunade-

I'd been trying to avoid that. Something in me just wanted to flee and get as far away from her as possible. I'm not sure why exactly; in the long run she was a trustworthy person. It's just-

…

Well, I still needed to fix this and that was exactly what I was going to do.

I noticed Tenten glance first at me as she walked up towards us waving and smiling.

"Hello Sakura-chan! How have the preparations been going so far?"

Sakura instantly broke out of her less than great mood, replying with a bright smile.

"Pretty well! Was it you who brought Mako-san along?"

I got the distinct impression she wasn't very happy about that.

"Yup! I thought she'd be interested."

I guess that's true enough…

Before this could quickly turn into a long and drawn out conversation, I excused myself.

"Well, this has been very… _interesting_ but I need to head out. I have to go back and fill in the holes at the training grounds and put away all of the equipment."

Sakura looked a little surprised. I guess she was expecting me to debate with her more.

"Oh- Alright. Next time I'll see you will be at the wedding I suppose."

Not if I could help it.

"Um, maybe!"

I bid the two of them farewell before actually heading back to my specified located. I had so much clean up to do...

And then a visit to the Hokage.

* * *

><p>AN: This ended up taking forever to rewrite. TT_TT I would like to thank KittyCaterpillar for being my beta for this chapter and Falcon's-Fang with all the help plot-wise.<p>

I'm probably going to come back and fix a few sentences here and there, but for now I'm just happy to get this posted.


	38. Basic Skills

"Do you know why I called you into my office during lunch today Mako-san?"

"No, Sensei."

We were currently sitting inside Iruka's office, a small and stuffy room with well worn wood flooring, faded blue walls and a window on one wall that overlooked the side yard of the academy. I was sitting in a plain wooden chair, place right in front of Iruka's large desk, which in itself was surprisingly clean and tidy. That was because the rest of the room was full of filing cabinets and small tables bursting with papers. These guys really needed to invest in computer technology outside the chunin exam tourney bot. And jutsu good for things outside of killing people. These people have magical powers. Why don't they use them for everything?!

Iruka frowned, his gaze turning soft as he changed into councilor mode.

"I'm concerned with your school performance."

I had to blink a few extra times.

What.

I just stared back at him blankly before Iruka decided to throw me for another loop.

"Would you like some tea?"

"S-Sure?"

He got up to grab the tea kettle from the back table, pouring the liquid into a small traditional Japanese cup. I took it gingerly, taking a small sip.

"Thank you."

He just nodded.

"You're very welcome."

Iruka shuffled through several files on his desk, eventually deciding to pick up a generic looking manila folder. It seemed to be pretty thin, a paperclip attaching a picture of myself that I don't remember ever having taken…

I'm seriously questioning the legality of that. Don't citizens have the right to privacy in their own village? I guess living in a militaristic society does come with its risks. In exchange for a loss of freedom, you gain security. That goes for all countries too. When putting in place laws and forming a government structure, the citizens give up the freedom to just do whatever they please. But there is also the question of how much government control there should really be and-

"Mako-san?"

"Hmm?"

Only now I just now realized that I was still holding the cup up to my face, staring blankly off into space. I quickly set it down on the desk, turning my attention back to the now very concerned looking Iruka.

" Has been anything troubling you lately?"

I shifted in my seat.

"Not particularly…"

Troubling? More like terrorizing.

He frowned, not looking entirely convinced.

"You participate consistently in class discussions though your opinions are…_ different. _I've heard you participate and work very hard at practical exercises also."

I wasn't really sure where this was going…

"All of your math related homework assignments are completed, but everything else though… "

Eh he…

Iruka clasped his hands together, the corners of his mouth turning down even farther.

"Please help me understand Mako-san. For someone who tries so hard in their classes, it seems to be very unreasonable for you not to even turn in your assignments for even partial credit."

So it really comes down to this after all…

I gulped, trying my best to avoid looking into those very concerned eyes. It was a guilt trip waiting to happen.

"…Isn't being able to answer all of those questions when asked enough?"

Iruka sighed, leaning back slightly in his desk chair.

"In a real world situation it will be important to know all of this; you would actually be surprised how many of my students forget simple things by the time they graduate; like that there are many hidden villages besides the Leaf and how chakra works."

Uh… That stuff seems _really_ basic. There is _clearly_ something wrong with this school system if the kids that gradate from here don't know something so crucial to their future job. I could understand not remembering things like the Sand's political climate and law making bodies, but I guess they need to have a reason for exposition. This is a manga series after all. They need a reason to have to explain everything.

"It's important for us to have a way to check your progress."

Darn. That actually makes sense.

"I guess so…"

I couldn't tell him the real reason outside my busy 'schedule' for why I hadn't gotten any of that done.

Iruka scrambled around his desk, grabbing a couple of worksheets from a pile in the back. He put them down right in front me, handing me a pencil with an outstretched hand.

"Here. Would you please fill these out for me? I want to at the very least give you the chance for some remedial work."

I hesitantly took it from him, gulping once again with my heart now starting to pound. The pages were full of unreadable kanji, and the hiragana I read were mostly words I hadn't learned yet.

Grabbing the pages anyway under Iruka's hawk-like stare, instead of admitting anything then and there, I just tilted the pages out of view and started writing out whatever random Japanese I could think of off the top of my head. I mean, I could probably run out of there before he actually read anything closely…

Risu wa oishii desu.

The squirrel is delicious!

Beautiful.

Okay, so I couldn't read any of the first question; but I think the second has the word 'konohagakure' in it!

Konohagakure wa subarashi desu.

The Leaf Village is wonderful!

A bit of buttering up couldn't hurt…

At some point after that I got on roll, using the full extent of my basic Japanese knowledge.

Masuyo sensei wa kawai desu.

Masuyo-sensei is scary! A sadist is what I really wanted to say, but I don't know the word for that.

Kinou ame ga furimashita.

Yesterday it rained.

Okay, starting to run out of things here… Maybe I should start writing about what colors things are?

Once I finally reached the last question, I started to get up from seat, placing the papers on his desk and began heading back to class. But before I could even barely stand up-

"Why don't we go over these together?"

Crap.

I slunk back into my seat, watching in silent horror as a smiling Iruka reached for the worksheets in what seemed like slow motion. His fingers touched the paper, sliding them against the desk's worn wooden surface, growing closer to him by the second.

My eyes flickered to the sliding door, desperation leaking out though my fate had already been sealed.

The papers were swiftly picked up with precision, two hands gripping both sides. His eyes rolling down to read the characters I had just written. The concerns of his mouth twitched slightly, his steady look turning blank and unreadable, though his furrowed eye brows were a good clue to his feelings.

A page was flipped.

Then the next.

And the next.

And the next.

"Mako-san."

I could feel myself tensing up, eyes wandering to the floor boards as my hands started to practically strangle the armrests.

I knew it was coming. I was going to get the yelling of a lifetime. It made me flashback to Iruka's anger at Naruto's escapades. I can take yelling. I mean, who hasn't had agreements with their parents for life experience in that area? It's just a person can only take so much in a span of time, whether they deserve it all or not.

God. I really have that magical skill for pissing people off huh?

"Were you really trying?"

His tone was even, nothing giving away any sort of internal furry. I looked up, surprised to see a calm and collected Iruka, no noticeable facial quirks. He really wasn't giving anything away.

Its times when that happens when I'm scared the most.

"Y-Yeah?"

He put the papers back down on his desks, seemingly absentmindedly organizing the things on his desk.

"I'm disappointed."

I felt a deep pang at the bottom of my stomach, a sudden instinct to hang my head in shame. Something about those words always makes you feel terrible about yourself.

Iruka turned his attention back to me, giving me a steady look.

"I expect this sort of thing from my students here, but at eighteen you're practically an adult."

I met his eyes head on, raising an eyebrow at the ridiculous part of that statement.

'"Not to nitpick, but you guys send out kids at age twelve to go and kill people and have no moral qualms about it. I _think_ I should be considered an adult."

To his credit Iruka didn't even bat an eye.

"While you are still my student here, you will be considered a child."

Something about that immediately ticked me off. I sat quiet for a moments stewing in furry until I realized I was just making his point.

"…Fine then."

There was a long silence before either of us spoke again.

"Do you really care about becoming a ninja?"

I bolted upright in my seat.

Where was this suddenly coming from?!

I nodded fervently.

"O-Of course! Being a ninja and learning ninja skills is awesome!"

Though I was still planning on just learning all the cool parts and never making it official. As screwed up as the governments of this world may be, awesome ninja stuff is still awesome. I'm not passing off a chance to learn it.

Iruka nodded in return, seeming pleased enough with my answer to crack a smile.

"I'm glad. It's not every day that we get an older student here. I know you missed your chance to attend because of childhood health problems, but if you're fully dedicated I don't think there will be any issues moving forward."

So that was the official story then.

He handed back the papers to me, this time with a very energized aura.

"Do these correctly this time alright? I know you're more than capable."

Uh…

Iruka lost his faith in me and yet somehow regained in minutes later. I was really backed into a corner this time.

I stared at the pages, the paper becoming more menacing by the minute.

He gestured for me to begin writing, smiling expectantly.

"Go on."

Running wasn't something I could do now. That would ruin the poor sensei and who knew what he would think after that.

My hands started to tremble, the characters all swirling together in my head.

I could only surrender now. I had to say one sentence that I thought I would never have to utter in my entire life.

Painfully, I said it.

"I can't read."

The feeling in the room instantly chilled, the composed Iruka quickly unraveling into a gaping, wide eyed onlooker.

He quickly sputtered out a few sentences.

"In- In your file it does say that you were comatose for several of those years, so you could have missed the chance to learn such basic skills-"

Oh, he's coming up with an excuse for me. Sure, I'll go with it.

I hung my head in somewhat-pretend shame.

"Yeah… pretty much."

Fun fact: Japanese is actually a pretty easy language to learn to speak, but what makes it hard is learning to learn to read it.

"I'll be happy to help you learn right away!"

Iruka sprang up from his seat, now digging through the papers in his desk.

"I believe I still have the materials in here from the five and six year olds classes…"

I quickly waved my hands in front of me.

"Er- No! It's fine Iruka-sensei! I've been teaching myself on my own anyway."

Papers started to fly as he opened up several filling cabinets.

"It's my duty as a teacher to make sure you are prepared to graduate."

"Really it's-"

He suddenly stacked a pile of textbooks in front of me.

"We still have some time before lunch ends! I want to get as much done as possible now, and then you can come in like this tomorrow too."

Well there goes all of my free time to try and solve massive problems…

At least now I get to be ahead in my Japanese class.

Yay?

* * *

><p>Sorry it took me so long to update. D: My life has been pretty crazy with graduation and everything that goes along with that. Plus it's summer and that's when I get really lazy… I suddenly find myself with a lot of extra time, but instead of <em>actually <em>doing anything with it; I tend to just do random stuff on the internet all day. Yeah… I'm not very productive. I'm just going to have to force myself to push on through. I really want to see this story to completion! :D


	39. Friends & Family

I arrived back in the classroom a couple minutes before lunch ended.

Trudging back to my seat, I haphazardly dumped the thick stack of papers and textbooks on top of the desk with a loud _thud_.

Jun jumped a little in his seat, glancing over with a mix of surprise and confusion. His eyes lingered on the stack for a moment, looking a bit curious, but quickly turning back when he noticed me watching.

Ever since my whole 'revenge' outburst, it's been sort of awkward having to sit next to each other. That probably wasn't one of my finest moments.

On another note, Masuyo-sensei was supposed to come back from her 'extended leave' sometime today; and chances were it would be within the next five minutes.

The rest of the class had already started to trickle in, several small groups of kids standing around together; laughing and talking.

There was a small pang in my gut.

I really missed my own friends.

I wondered what they were doing at the moment. If I was really in some sort of coma, would they have come and visited me?

Rachel I'm sure would have come, and Eli of course, and Ada I'm sure because that just the kind of person she is. I would definitely visit them during their spontaneous comas, though I hope it would never come to that.

It gets really depressing hearing your parents talk about how many of their old classmates had died since whatever year reunion.

Feeling suddenly deflated, I flipped through a couple pages of a book, recognizing charts for hiragana and katakana characters. I guess Iruka really didn't get the fact that I could in the very least do that much. He kept talking over me, in full teacher mode that entire time.

I needed a vacation.

Saying that feels ironic…. Somehow.

After this whole wedding thing was over, I was going to go leave the village and do some traveling around with Tora. I certainly had the time before Naruto got back.

Speaking of the wedding, I wondered what Jun's take on all of this was. With Anko being a relative and all, wouldn't he of all people know the truth? Well, he was literally sitting right next to me. That should be enough to sway Sakura, right? It's worth a try in the very least.

I quickly collected my thoughts, carefully crafting this next sentence.

"Hey Jun,"

He turned, frowning slightly but actually seemed a bit curious.

"What?"

I shifted in my seat a bit.

"So uh, what's your take this whole wedding thing with your aunt?"

The frown turned into a glare, the glare turning into a snarl.

And here I actually thought I was good with kids.

"None of what those people are saying is true! Anko-neesan isn't like that!"

I was pretty taken back by the outburst, but my first reaction was _huh?_

"…_Neesan?"_

He froze, realizing just how confusing that sounded.

"I-I just call her that. But still!"

I waved my hands downward, cueing for him to relax, and to my relief he actually did.

"_Trust me_. I believe you. In fact I've been trying to sort this out all week."

Jun nodded, a new light of hope filling his eyes.

Okay. I've got this.

"What about the rest of your family? Do they think the same thing?"

If so, this would be easy enough to clear up. Geez, why didn't I just ask him in the first place?

"No. Mara says that Anko-neesan is an adult who is allowed to do what she wants."

And… of course not.

I kinda wanted to cry. My luck was awful.

And after taking a deep breath-

"Have you tried to tell her that?"

Jun actually set his book down, facing me with full force.

"Tons of times! But she never listens! But I spend a lot of time at Anko-neesan's apartment when I don't want to go home so I know her better than almost anyone!"

Besides making me seriously concerned for his family situation and wonder if this had been the most he's ever spoken to me, it also occurred to me that a ten year old kid whose own family wouldn't believe him wouldn't be the best defense for my claims.

I desperately needed that audience with the Hokage. I seriously doubted that someone with my non-prestige would just waltz up to her office and demand to speak to her. More likely there would be a waiting list. But I didn't have the time to wait.

"You're going to explain everything to people right?"

When a little kid stares at you with hopeful eyes, like you_ and only_ _you_ are their hope; one does not say no.

I nodded, flashing him a bright smile.

"Of course!"

His face relaxed back to normal, faced forward and picked back up his book. I leaned back in my seat, taking the moment for a nice little nap.

_CRACK_

That is the sound a sliding door makes when pulled open ridiculously hard.

"Miss me everyone?"

That is the sound of a semi-sadistic person whom I constantly question what their credentials were for getting this job.

There was a silent, unanimous, _no_.

She looked pretty much exactly like she did before she left, tough there was a bit more of a bounce in her step; pretty much guaranteed to be because of the wedding.

"I didn't quite catch that."

"Yes, Sensei."

Masuyo leaped on top of her desk, sitting down with legs and arms crossed. She reached into her pack for something, but frowning when coming up empty.

She scanned the room silently, eyes flickering from student to student.

"Everyone take out a blank sheet of paper."

There was the instantly shuffling around, no one daring to speak.

I complied, taking out one of my notebooks.

You know, if this is how she acts while in a semi-good mood, I don't want to see her angry.

* * *

><p>AN: This was hard for me to write for some odd reason. I rewrote the beginning at least four or five times. T^T Nothing too exciting, but I felt like I really needed a chance for Jun to give his opinion. That's not exactly the most exciting chapter to write when I'm really psyched for the next one. This wedding subplot will be wrapped up in the next two or three chapters I believe~! Then I can get on to the stuff I've been planning for a while.<p>

Music genre good for writing: Electro Swing. :D


	40. KISS

I came up with this great plan.

Under the disguise of genjutsu I would enter the building where the Hokage's office was. Since his time I didn't have the position of having an actual headband, I'd use Genjutsu; and then _bam_. Problem solved. I could just rush past the ANBU at the door and catch them off guard, or just pretend I have a good reason to be there.

Genius.

…And then I took more than two seconds to think it over and quickly realized that my idea was ridiculously stupid.

Any high level ninja would see through my jutsu; and using a jutsu in the first place would only make me more suspicious. I wouldn't make it past the front door. And getting past ANBU? I must really be missing that jail cell or something.

So in conclusion; K.I.S.S.

Keep it simple, stupid.

A motto to live by. So I the end I took a different angle.

"Thank you very much for allowing me to come along with you today, Gai-san!"

I bowed a bit deeper than usual, trying hard to multitask with keeping up a brisk pace. Gai gave me what I've come to call his 'cool guy smile' and thumbs up as Neiji let out a sigh of annoyance from my right.

"It's no problem for one as interested in youthful endeavors as yourself!"

The five of us were currently walking through the streets to the Hokage's office, Ten Ten's eyes never leaving my back. I didn't _exactly_ explain my intentions of joining their team for the morning to her beforehand.

Lee copied Gai as usual, this time bringing out no reaction from Neiji.

Wow, he must be building up quite the tolerance.

I have him a slight nod, smiling back.

"But still, thank you. Entering the academy late I feel like I missed quite a lot. I've only heard about the process of getting missions from the Hokage, but I've never seen it myself."

Tenten replied very _cheerfully _in character.

"I don't think it's as exciting as you think Mako-san. We're just getting a quick D rank mission between higher ranked ones."

I waved my arms, quickly dismissing her 'concerns'.

"Oh no! It's fine with me! I doubt I'm privy to knowing about anything high ranking anyway."

Gai nodded proudly at his student's answer.

"I apologize Mako-san but if you had asked at another time the answer would most like had been a 'no'."

I wanted to cry from sheer happiness. It looked like luck was on my side after all! I knew these guys probably the best out of the active canon teams, and I wasn't really looking toward tracking down Asuma whom I barely knew for a request.

With a bit more chatting between all of us except for Neiji, whom I was slowly starting to decipher the meaning of his eye twitches; we arrived at the Hokage's office build place thing.

Honestly I'm not sure what to call it. I forgot the correctly terminology somewhere along the way.

We entered; Gai giving his hello's to the person at the front desk and started climbing up the stairs. The person acting as that day secretary briefly glanced at me with a look of suspicion, but quickly turned back to her work.

Sometimes just asking is better than trying to do everything on your own; not that I've always followed that advice.

The two ANBU standing outside the door were different from the last time I was here. Both of them had extremely generic, short spiky brown hair and animal masks that I decided to interpret as chipmunk and giraffe. Actually, it was probably a good thing they appeared so uninteresting. Having an odd colored hair gives you away pretty easily. In the Naruto world if your hair was an unnatural color, it either meant you were filler fodder, actually important, or a forgettable villain.

Then exactly what does that make me?

Uh….

While I was off daydreaming, the group moved forward without me; the ANBU both watching as I stood there awkwardly and then playing catch-up.

The door was left open behind us, a D rank mission not accounting to much secrecy. The room itself was basically exactly as it looked when I was in here last; large windows on the back wall, light murky brown walls and flooring, plus books and scrolls piled up all over. Tsunade sat behind her desk filling out some paperwork, Shizune standing on her right with Tonton in her arms.

"Team Gai."

The Hokage shuffled her papers, setting them and the pen in her hand on the desk. She lifted her head to look at the group, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth instantly gone when she set her sights on me.

"And Kato-san it seems."

Her expression was blank and professional, turning her focus back to the main group.

"Explain to me Gai why you brought an academy student with you here today."

He instantly straightened up his posture and saluted.

"Of course Hokage-sama! Kato-san here expressed interest in learning more about the village system."

Gai wiped away a few tears that suddenly sprung from his eyes.

"She had such youthful and awe-inspiring dedication to make up for all the lost time in her learning that I couldn't turn down the request to observe today."

My eyes slowly wandered to the floor.

He really shouldn't be saying things like that. All I really did was lie about my intentions, and to do that to such an honest person like Gai was wrong. _Very_ wrong. I thought about telling him what I was really there for; but his friendship with Kakashi made me choke on the words.

I just didn't know.

I didn't know how he would react. Chances are he would agree with the rumors, all gung ho on the whole thing. That sort of reaction seemed very 'Gai' to me. I could be wrong; I haven't made it through the entire series, so as far as I know he could have some hidden aspects I haven't accounted for.

My chest panged.

I didn't want to be shot down yet again. Then there would go my opportunity, leading me back to square one with a clock ticking down in the background.

So I was trying to help someone by possibly hurting someone else.

Maybe I was over thinking this. It's not like he _had _to know why I asked to tag along. The positives outweighed the negatives right?

"I see. Very well then."

Gai bowed deeply, fully displaying his apreciation.

"Many thanks Hokage-sama!"

Tsunade rested her chin on one hand and looking towards me, the other reaching for a rolled up scroll.

"In the Hidden Villages, missions are ranked and given based on difficulty and experience level of an individual or team."

I nodded, smiling and trying to look enthusiastic at this _enticing_ new information.

Tsunade continued.

"They are ranked with the lowest starting at D, then increasing to C, B, A, then S."

I nodded once again, learning early in life that doing that at the rights times was a perfect way to convince people that you were deeply concentrating on what they were saying.

But wait a second…

How do they know how to rank missions alphabetically like that when that sort of order doesn't even make sense in the Japanese language? And technically none of these letters should be able to be represented unless you write them out and romaji.

But you can't just have a single letter alone either way! Not unless it's the one of the very few exceptions ! They're breaking the rules of their own language! And apparently the only language around these parts is Japanese!

ARGH! I just-

Breathe.

Calm down, me. This is a_ fictional_ series _based_ on ancient Japanese culture; not _about _it. The author is allowed to take some artistic liberties that in retrospect make absolutely no sense.

There were a few more explanations I'd already been introduced to in the first few chapters, Neiji in particular looking less than intrigued as the conversation carried on.

"And of course you have to gain experience and train over time…"

Once the conversation pretty much trickled out into an awkward silence, (I mean, who doesn't love those?) Tenten came in for the save.

"Tsunade-sama, maybe you could assign the team the mission and explain the process?"

She nodded, seeming a little relieved at the tangent.

"Yes, that's what you are all here for in the first place."

She reached out her hand with the scroll, Gai coming forward to take it from her.

"Team Gai, I am assigning you a D rank missions in between your last B rank and your next. Your mission this time is to capture the Daimyo's wife's cat. I've sent multiple Genin teams out looking for it, but they've all come up with no results. It's very strange."

Cat catching? That was one of the first missions Naruto and co. went on I believe? I read through that early stuff sort of quickly. Being introduced to plots about expired milk and reading random love triangle stuff was grating. I'm glad I kept reading past all of that and on to the action.

The group members muttered a few words in agreement. Well, Neiji more of just nodded.

Ten Ten brought up a good point.

"Could it be possible… it just died? Of old age or maybe a frustrated Genin?"

I noted that she didn't add an accident being the cause.

"I tried to explain that, but it seems without proof she won't give up."

So no body, no crime.

Tsunade shuffled and straightened up a couple papers on her desk.

"We talk over the important aspects of the mission before sending teams off, though there isn't much for this one of course. Team Gai, you're dismissed. We will debrief later."

With a few salutes they started to head out the door, I myself still standing in place. Just keep walking. Keeeeep walking.

"Aren't you coming Mako-san?"

_Curse you, Lee!_

He and Gai seemed to be the most concerned looking as they halfway exited through the door; Neiji being the opposite. I don't even want to know what Tenten was thinking under that calm exterior.

She's actually a really good actress, now that I think about it.

I had to suppress a nervous laugh.

"Ah, well I was thinking about asking a few more questions and catching up with you guys later, if that's okay."

Actually, I thought my field trip ended at this point. I guess not. The full experience it is for me then.

Yay.

Lee then gave me the usual thumbs up.

"We will see you soon then!"

I waved.

"Yeah, thanks again. I'll see you guys later."

Was this the correct time to bow? The longer I was here the less I was able to figure out correct social cues. Apparently ninja culture had its own thing going on. Or maybe it was my mind screwing with me because of a comatose state. Then nothing I'm learning from being immersed in the culture would be relevant. I'd be totally wrong if I ever went to Japan. What if I accidentally offend or insulted someone?! And then if that happened-

"What is it you want to ask? I'm quite busy today so you'll need to make it quick."

I suddenly jumped, my heart now beating much, _much_ faster.

While I was having my little existential crisis, they exited the office and left me to my own devices. My habit of zoning out really wasn't a good thing right now. It probably wasn't that great any other time either really.

Tsunade impatiently waited for my response now drumming her fingers on the desk; Shizune handing off paper work to her who was taking it and scribbling her signature across the bottom. Judging by the giant stacks of paper pilled up around her desk, that was going to take a while.

"Ah. Well…"

I noticed I was rocking bit on my feet. A nervous tick.

"Y-You see…"

I gulped.

The longer I stood there in front of that large desk alone, the more menacing everything suddenly felt. The sole noise echoing of the walls was the unsettling scratching of pen against paper.

The last time I talked to her was when? Right before I was sent to be interrogated? Okay, that was probably the reasonable thing to do with all of the top secret info I suddenly revealed. She did knock me out though. I _was_ trying to 'escape' the hospital then…

Okay, so maybe her actions had logic behind them. But it still didn't shake the unsettling feeling I had about her. If she treated me as a spy or a criminal it would all make sense really. In this situation I don't think I would have ever trust me, regardless of whatever that mind scan from way back when turned up.

But Instead-

I mean, really! There's nothing I've done to make her care about me or see me in a positive way. How is it I keep seeing proof of exactly that though?!

Not that I'm complaining, but…

Enlisting the help of a crazy cave lady to 'heal' me, therapy I didn't need, and people out to apparently protect me.

_Why?!_

That's all I want to know!

Tsunade started to tap impatiently on her desk, looking me straight in the eye.

However-

That wasn't what I was here for.

"I-It's about that wedding you recently gave your blessing for to be put on."

That caught the attention in the room.

Tsunade paused suddenly. I couldn't help but notice Shizune's eye's flickering over to her boss.

The Hokage folded her hands on top of her desk, her calm professionalism barely covering up her distaste for my question.

"What about it?"

I made myself straighten up and stop moving, dragging my eyes away from the pretty wall behind her. I just need to say it quickly and get it over with; that's all.

Now just take a deep breath-

"This is all because of a big misunderstanding. Anko-san and Kakashi-san have never been together. This all started because of an accidental rumor that spun out of control."

She just watched me silently for a few moments, expression unchanging and simultaneously ignoring the concerned looks Shizune was giving her.

"I know."

Wait.

_What!?_

* * *

><p>AN: This really shouldn't have taken me this long to update. I have no excuses... TT_TT Summer makes me really lazy, however with the school year starting once again I will back. I know a lot of authors can't update as frequently during the school year because of it <em>being <em>the school year, but I actually work best under pressure and when a million things are due.

These next couple of chapters though should be coming out more quickly since I have them planned.


	41. Detective Work

I do in fact enjoy a good mystery story here and there. Guessing who's behind it, their motivations, how they pulled it off; all that fun stuff. But when you find it's you who's that idiot detective that was so sure of themselves the entire time, only to realize you've been played for a fool; it's like a punch to the gut.

In a way it's almost like you're a puppet with a few strings cut off. There's the illusion of movement and freedom, but in the end there's still something holding you in place.

The two other women in the room were still standing right in front of me; both pairs of eyes locked onto their sole target. No fluctuation of the features, no movement at the brow or corners of lips. Like ice maybe.

No, that probably wasn't the best comparison. They weren't necessarily cold towards me. It was more of a feeling of suffocation from a lack of emotion. It was very…well…

Professional.

From the moment those words had been spoken, all I could do was continue to stand there frozen in place, brain straining to grasp the whole picture placed in front of me.

They just continued watching; waiting. Waiting for me to respond. In the moment I temporarily forgot how.

"C-Could-"

Finding my voice again felt like a strain. I tried to fiercely shake myself out of my own thoughts, fingernails mindlessly picking at the hem of my shirt.

"Could you please repeat that?"

Tsunade remained silent in her seat; unchanging and unflinching. Shizune was the same, though her eyes did several times flicker over to her boss.

She leaned back a bit in her chair.

"I said that I know."

My heart started to race, conclusions being quickly put together.

"So-So in other words…"

I'd been screwed with. Maybe it wasn't intentional, but it felt like it all the same. Running around frantically in a blaze of panic for almost two weeks wasn't something I could just bush off easily.

"…You really did know what was going on between the two of them this whole time."

I started to hone in on the confidence that came with the complete and utter denial of one's situation.

"And by that, I mean there was _nothing_ going on between them."

She didn't answer, but she really didn't need to, seeing as how another question quickly came to me a few seconds later.

"Does Kakashi-san know the full story?"

Tsunade suddenly gave a slight smirk; Shizune also noticing the new change. Her eyes widened as her sight darted more frequently between the two of us.

"He just knows how wide spread this information has become."

So did she have a big role in how quickly the rumor spread? Wait- Why was I even asking myself that? It was an obvious yes. Well then again, you can't underestimate the power of people when it comes to gossip. Tsunade probably most just gave it legitimacy in people's eyes, though mainly Sakura.

My stomach took a quick dive as my thoughts turned to_ that_ failed confrontation.

She really hates me, huh? I doubt proving I'm right and her wrong will earn me any points either. Oh, and Kakashi hates me, and Tenten, and Daichi-

What if everyone else here hates me too?

I felt a little sick.

I probably annoyed them all in some way right? Maybe one too many comments or some mannerism that got on their nerves- Maybe just my personality in general?

This is why I try to be as least confrontational, opinionated, and act as polite as I can possible unless I'm with family or friends. My family can't disown me for being obnoxious, and my friends already accepted me as I am a long time ago. It's better to keep the comments to myself otherwise.

Because looks what happens when I decide to speak my mind without thinking.

Aren't dreams supposed to be full of fun and escapism?

Apparently not mine though. They end up bringing my worst fears to reality.

I wanted to bury my face in my hands, walk out the door, and shut myself in my room for a couple of hours. But I couldn't right now. There were still some things that need to be done.

At the moment though, it looks like my best plan of action would be try and dredge up a monolog from the villain- who is in fact a good guy.

Huh.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves.

"So… why do this? What do you even get out of it?"

Tsunade just continued to give me an increasingly amused look.

"I just saw an opportunity and I took it. Not much more to say really."

Okay, so _not_ the grand speech I was expecting. Apparently things just can never be that convenient.

Politicians, man.

"An opportunity to do what exactly…?"

Out of nowhere Tsunade began to chuckle quietly to herself, Shizune now seeming increasingly nervous towards me while trying her best to keep up a faltering smile.

"W-What Tsunade-sama is trying to say, is that she's just trying to look out for everyone's best interests."

Okay, I call BS on that statement.

"For everyone but Kakashi-san, right?"

Saying that though just made her become even more flustered, her boss suddenly going silent and turning back to do paper work once again. And for all purposes pretty abandoning her employee for this argument.

"Well- what I mean-"

As Shizune continued to struggle with finding her words, the sum of situation finally hit me like a ton of bricks. My eyes snapped over to glare directly at the glorious Hokage.

"You're just throwing Kakashi under the bus for your own amusement!"

She barely looked up, her expression instantly switching back to its initial blank state.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'bus'."

I wanted to either throw something at her or scream at the top of my lungs in frustration. But since doing either of those things is usually not socially acceptable, I settled for grinding my teeth together and clenching my fists at my sides. I really didn't have the patience to explain cultural/other worldly differences right now.

"It's just an expression. Basically what I'm trying to say is that you've _completely_ screwed him over."

She was quiet for a long moment, watching me silently from behind her desk with one hand still scribbling down signatures.

"And why would this concern you?"

I don't know, maybe because he demanded that I fix it? Maybe because other people are also extremely upset over this? Maybe because it's the right thing to do?

"Because what's going on here is just wrong! You can't treat people like that!"

In all honesty, if this was one of those apparently awful fillers I've heard so much about, or some random chapter in the manga, I would one of the first to call this situation hilarious.

But that was before I found myself in the middle of it.

It's easy to be an onlooker when things go wrong outside your own little personal bubble. That doesn't make it right; just a whole lot easier to carry on with your day like nothing had happened.

Especially when the problem isn't even real.

The thing is though; that doesn't necessarily stop people from caring. Heck, I've cried over the death of a fictional character before, and I've even spent an entire half an hour ranting to my sister about how much I hated the stupid decision the hero from a series I was watching made.

Even if something is only happening that's in a world that's fake, there's still such thing as right or wrong. And if you can do something about it, you should.

The writing stopped, the pen was set down, and it now seemed she lost her previous amusement.

"Well, why can't I?"

I blanched at the unexpected question, my heart rate jumping a couple of numbers.

"Because-"

I froze in mid thought.

She was the Hokage. Meaning Tsunade could probably get away with murder if she wanted to. Well, I mean of course she has. She's a ninja after all, it's not like they would lock up ninja for doing their job. That would be totally counterproductive, and then this manga would have no point and then-

Pull it together…

"Because you can't just use people like that, no matter how much power you have!"

She just looked at me, eyes narrowing and a slight bit.

"Just like your little stunt with team Gai earlier?"

I filched back, body going cold.

Crap.

Crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap.

She figured it out so easily, it wasn't even worth trying to deny it. And here I thought it was a convincing set up. Tsunade probably never bought my reason for coming here for a second.

I sputtered out the only excuse I could think of to defend doing what I already knew was wrong.

"B-But it's not like it actually hurt them somehow!"

An unsettling smirk slowly crawled up her face.

"What I'm doing is exactly the same way."

"I- "

The words failed to come to me.

"It's-!" "But-"

She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms, the smirk even growing larger the longer she watched me struggle in front of her.

"You're getting a little too upset over this don't you think Kato-san? You should just sit back and enjoy the show."

I was left speechless, any more arguments made now just destined to be a lost cause.

And to add on top of all of that, her closing statement was _clearly_ something a villain would say.

Even the idiot detective could figure out that.

* * *

><p>AN: I temporarily retract my previous statement…<p>

School ended up being much more work that I initially thought it would. T^T My life now revolves around math. And I hate math.

Quite a lot. D:

However, while I was having math parties seven days a week all by myself, I still found time to write. This posted chapter just happened to be the fifth rewrite of it. I had so many different ideas for where I wanted to go with this chapter that I just kept starting over. I had two I liked, so my next attempts were to somehow combine them together.

I'm going to try my best to be faster next time, but at the moment I'm trying my hardest not to fail my math class.

Special thanks to **dark-dreams-of-love, chibianimefan26, KittyCaterpillar, VelvetRose529, watertribewolfe,** and **Falcon's-Fang** for all of the reviews and advice given.

On to the wedding! :D


	42. Countdowns

I stumbled down the steps that led out from the building's front door. My body was numb yet my brain was frantically moving a milea minute. One phrase was being repeated over and over again in my head.

Two days.

I had only two days before the wedding was to happen. Only two days to think up an entirely new plan. Only two days to pull off what now seemed like a miracle.

My feet finally touched the ground though I barely felt it, my body carrying me off into of the bustling village streets. I mindlessly walked along, not even bothering to set a destination for myself.

I just walked, and the longer I walked the more the initial shock started to wear off. My stomach began to flurry and the first bits of panic started to set in.

I barely noticed that I had just bumped into another pedestrian as I turned a corner and heard a loud "Hmph."

What was I supposed to do now? It seemed like my real life had this sort of stuff already laid out for me. You could go to your parents with your problems, possibly teachers, maybe even the police if the situations dire. It's not like I ever really did though, except maybe in times of desperation.

Like right now.

And wasn't going to an authority figure with your problems supposed to be the big solution to everything? I guess that in njnja land the answer is no. Then again they _are_ ninja. When you think of the word 'ninja', trustworthy and reliable don't exactly come to mind.

But Naruto himself sort of defies that that stereotype doesn't he? He has his own values, or nindo, or whatever it's called. He always spouts how he never goes back on his word and doesn't give up on people even if they're an enemy. He defies all conventions of what being a ninja is supposed to be. But maybe that's the point Kishimoto is trying to make. You don't have to blindly fight and do what you're told without question. You have to stick to what you believe even in difficult circumstances. Insert that famous Ghandi quote here.

Or maybe I'm just over thinking it all.

I passed through what seemed like one of the shopping districts, brightly colored clothing catching my attention.

I let out a mix of a whimper and a groan.

Somehow in the moment I almost forgot. Not only was I told when the wedding was, I was also invited to attend as well.

I felt insulted. Even after my whole spiel and rant I went on there, Tsunade acted like nothing I said even registered, like I was never obviously completely opposed to the whole thing.

And so now I had to go out and buy some formal wear. What do people _even_ wear to Japanese weddings? I didn't really even have someone I could ask either. Maybe Ino and Hinata if I could ever track them down, but with their busy schedules and how large this village is, that would almost be a feat in itself.

Speaking of tracking people down, I was supposed to meet up with team Gai soon, wasn't I? Didn't really think that one through I'll admit.

I really didn't have any way to find them. You know that handy chakra sensing trick people use? Yeah, can't do that.

After my approximately two and a half months stuck here, (all of that traveling time at beginning and the hospital recuperation apparently add up) I'm not sure what I've really learned to help me survive in the ninja world.

Let's see.

I could do some extremely mutated transformations, make one clone, make my hands glow blue, throw weapons without accidentally cutting off my fingers, and use taijutsu skills that would at most allow me to fight off small hoards of kindergarteners. Maybe not even that, seeing as how they're _ninja_ kindergarteners.

Basically my options were to continue standing here silently panicking, or walk around in a vain attempt to find them _while_ silently panicking. I guess at least one of those two were productive. If only I knew where this cat they were looking for was, I'd just have to get there before they did.

That's really just wishful thinking though.

I started making my way through the crowded and noisy streets, restaurants and busy stalls clamoring for attention lining every corner in this part of the village. Many housewives could be seen bartering for the freshest fruits and vegetables at the stands, their voices breaking through over the constant everyday chatter. A couple of small children could be seen tagging along, either looking disinterested or poking around where they probably weren't welcome.

I still really did like the whole look of this village. The buildings were so bright and colorful, the unreadable characters on signs and banners really emphasizing how different and foreign this world was to me. One day I'll design something really spectacular. Something that's more than just a boring building that blends into the background of every day life.

The smell of some sort of amazing cuisine suddenly hit my nose, my stomach instantly growling in response.

I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to stop just and eat for a second…. Hey, something might just come to me through the inspiration of incredible food! I'm totally not trying to avoid my problems right now and pig out!

Looking for a place that I could afford to eat in without having only being able to live off of cup o' ramen for the rest of my life, I passed by one of the nicer restaurants on the street, the exterior being a reddish-pink color and fancily crafted folding menu at the door. There was what I assumed to either be hostess or greater standing right outside the entrance.

This place looked…

I stopped walking for a moment.

…Sort of familiar for some reason. Not that the restaurant was extremely unique or something. The only times I eat out are when I go to Ichiraku for cheap ramen, and that's mostly because I slowly became addicted. Cheap cup o' ramen has nothing on the real stuff. But seriously, I need to eat something else. I'm really going to die at this rate.

Now that I thought about it, the reason this was so familiar to me was just probably because it was one of the restaurants Sakura showed me a while ago. If a local to recommends it, it tends to be pretty good. It might be worth it then to splurge a bit.

All for my well-being of course!

I started heading towards the restaurant, trying and failing to decipher characters the menu board as I took a step towards the door.

Suddenly my path was blocked by a wall of black. I didn't have enough time to stop, so my face, and especially my nose, smacked right into it.

Instantly I jumped back wincing, and grabbed my throbbing face.

There was the sound above me of a throat being cleared.

"Ahem."

I looked up to see a six-foot something guy with crew cut and muscles bulging under his simple black uniform. It was the same greeter who had been standing at the entrance seconds before.

His towering presence made me flinch back. The things you notice when you pay attention.

I hastily apologized.

"S-Sorry! I must not have been looking where I was going!"

He didn't look very happy, eyes narrowed, body shifting over a bit the block the entire space in between me and the door. The man's gaze ran up and down me, stopping suddenly something above my face.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave the premises."

I gaped like a dying fish.

"What- Why?"

What do I even do? I just stood here for a couple of seconds! That could barely even be considered loitering!

His eyes locked onto mine.

"You've been banned by the owner from entering this establishment."

I immediately felt sick. I'd never been banned or kicked out of a place in my life. It's just one of those perks of being a good, law abiding citizen. I tried to swallow down that feeling, carefully choosing my words.

"I-Is there a reason why I'm not allowed inside?"

He just gave a slight shrug.

"I've just been told to not allow anyone fitting a certain description to enter."

A bit of annoyance started to trickle in.

"A-And what would that be exactly?"

He gave me an odd look.

"Young women with green hair."

What?!

I frantically gestured towards my general figure.

"Come on! There have to be tons of people who fit my description!"

He barely blinked.

"I apologize, but I don't make the rules here."

I glanced over his away for a second, noticing that a few passersby were either quietly sneaking glances at our little confrontation or openly staring. I was making a scene here apparently.

Gulping, I nodded quickly.

"I- I'll just go."

I quickly turned around and started walking, trying my best to look at anything but the hulking greeter or the other people around me.

That was…

I tried to collect my thoughts.

Confusing.

Really, really confusing.

I continued walking until the delicious smell of food fell out of my grasp.

…

My process of searching for team Gai was the exact definition of wandering aimlessly. I had no plan in mind, and strangely enough I caught the scowls of a few shop owners when I came a bit too close to their doorsteps.

Was I missing something here? Why would so many store owners detest my presence? I didn't even go shopping very much. I pondered the question for a bit longer, bringing my hand up to dramatically stroke my invisible beard.

I paused.

Wait.

Maybe- Could it be?-Was it because?

My arm went slack and fell down to my side.

I had nothing.

I knew some people didn't really like me, but I was starting to feel even more paranoid. They didn't even know me. Did I have a secret Doppelganger? Did someone transform into me to commit a crime? Was the nine tailed fox sealed into me when I wasn't looking?

Up ahead was a small park, so I decided to sit down on a bench for a moment to ponder further and rest my feet for a bit. Leaning back, I looked up into the cloud filled sky.

Cloud watching or going on the internet?

Internet wins every time.

I was really getting nowhere. Maybe I should just go home, eat lunch, spend some time with Tora, and then head out once again. The more I thought about it, the more I started convincing myself it was a perfect idea.

Getting up from my seat, I spied ninja Mount Rushmore in the distance to lead the way. I started heading back to my apartment building, which I still questioned whether or not was bugged somehow.

Since I had a destination in mind for once, it didn't take me very long to get there. I headed up the stairs, giving my hellos to a couple of my neighbors I saw along the way.

Grabbing my keys out from my pack, I unlocked the front door and pushed it open to enter my nicely decorated apartment.

I had finally gotten my hands on an old blue and saggy couch a guy at the construction depot was getting rid of. Though instead of me getting much use out of it, it quickly became Tora's favorite place to sleep and lounge.

I stepped into the kitchen, rummaging through the cupboards for something to eat. I was met with a literal pyramid of cups of ramen I had built while bored one day. I tried again, finding another cupboard full of only the shrimp flavor. The shrimp flavor is disgusting.

I groaned, slamming the cupboard door shut.

"There's nothing to eat…"

My whining was met with a soft meow.

I turned to see Tora standing right on top my low kitchen table, tail and ears raised. She continued meowing louder and louder until I reached out my hand and scratched her favorite spot behind the ears.

"Have you been a good girl while I've been away, fluffy?"

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed her food bowl was a little empty, so I left the kitchen and walked over into my bedroom where I kept her food bag.

The meowing grew louder the farther I walked away.

"Fluffles, I can't just pet you all the time! You want to be fed, don't you?"

The sounds only stopped once I came back and tipped the bag over, filling the dish to the brim with her ridiculously overpriced cat food.

As Tora jumped down and ate away, I decided to scan my refrigerator for something edible. Some half-eaten ramen, milk, a couple of bruised tomatoes I never had any use for, and… a _cat toy_?

I picked up the glittery mouse, the bell at the end of its tail jingling.

"You're quite the smart kitty, huh Tora?"

Setting the toy down on the table, I hesitantly grabbed a tomato out of the fridge and cautiously took a bite.

Oh, yum.

The best thing I've ever eaten in my life.

For sure.

One of the books Iruka-sensei had given me was sitting on the couch's armrest, so I grabbed it, flopped down on the couch, and then turned to a random page.

The kanji for gold was sort of interesting looking. Couldn't you add an 'o' to the beginning of the kanji to mean money or something? I looked through another few pages until my view suddenly became blocked with fur.

"Tora, please get off my chest."

There was the soft jingle of a bell, followed by a small addition of weight on top of me.

I put the book back on the armrest with one hand and grabbed the mouse off my stomach with the next. Tora hopped down on the floor, looking up at me expectantly.

I couldn't help but let out a huge grin.

"Alright fluffy. Here we go!"

I dangled the mouse above her, Tora reaching out with her paws to snatch it out of my hands. I dropped it, sending her into frenzy as she tried and failed at grabbing it in her excitement.

We played for a little longer, Tora eventually settling down from all of the action and curling up on my lap.

This little scene was soon interrupted by a loud knock at the door.

Tora instantly sprang up, back arching and fur bristling as she ran to go hide under my bed. That was the thing about her. She for some reason was really scared of other people. Even if just a neighbor came by for just a second to talk, she would have the same reaction and run and hide. I wonder if it had to do with some previous animal abuse. I hoped not. She was such a sweet cat.

Standing up and wiping the cat fur off of my clothes, I headed over to open door.

I turned the handle, half expecting it to be the older lady who lived on my floor coming over to chat about her son once again.

Instead it was three distinct figures.

* * *

><p>AN: It seems like my updating schedule for this fic had become monthly. : I really wish I had more time, but it isn't really working out right now.

Well anyway, I'm pretty happy with this chapter. :D In case you are confused about the whole restaurant thing, that's a call back to earlier chapters with operation meat shield and the bathhouse incident.

I tried my best to write Tora off of a friend of mine's cat since I don't have one myself. I hope I made her endearing enough. XD People always tend to bash or even kill off Tora in fanfics.

A last, but very important note, is that all through November I'm going to take part in NaNoWriMo. Since I'm writing an entire novel in a month, I doubt I'll have time to update Sleepless. I might just end up procrastinating and writing a chapter though. XD

Thanks for the reviews, watches, and favs. I really appreciate the support, though always feel free to throw some constructive criticism my way.


	43. Loose Ends

I pulled the door aside, letting myself see exactly who it was that had been knocking. At first glance I didn't recognize a single one of them. There were two boys, one with short brown hair and had his Konoha headband tied around his neck, the other having light blond hair and eyes that didn't seem to have pupils, his headband tied around his arm. The girl in the group was clearly a Hyuuga, short dark brown hair and white eyes to fit the look, a headband covering her forehead. The three of them appeared to be around twelve years old, and upon second glance I still didn't recognize them. What did they want from me exactly?

"…Can I help you?"

The bold boy stepped to the head of the group, a clipboard being carried under one arm. His facial expression was void of emotion and oozed professionalism, which was a bit strange to see on a person his age. I couldn't help but feel a bit wary about this whole scenario.

"Are you Kato Mako?"

I slowly nodded, wondering who exactly put my name on a list along with my home address.

"…I am. What can I help you with exactly?"

The boy brought his hand up to his mouth and cleared his throat.

"We're here to collect unreturned library books along with their late fees that are due."

My heart sank. Well frig. There _was_ actually a D rank mission for that! No wonder they had that sort of information on hand. I had to give it when checking out the library books a while back. Hesitantly, I asked the question I feared the answer to the most.

"How much is it?"

The boy pulled the clipboard out from under his arm, flipping through a few pages and moving down the columns until stopping at a certain line.

"It will be five hundred ryo."

I had to stop my mouth from dropping open. Everything seemed so much more expensive here because of all the extra zeros, but in reality it really wasn't. I'm sure the fees had to be about five dollars or so at most. I quickly fired up the mental math machine, calculating it's one ryo to ten yen conversion. So then it would be an even five thousand, and if converted to US dollars-

This time I had to stop myself choking.

_Forty bucks?! What kind of ridiculous interest rates do they have here?!  
><em>

I'll admit it. I was dirt poor at the moment. Having a pet is apparently _really _expensive. I've pet sat people I've known pets before, which includes cats, but I've never actually owned one of my own. I hadn't had the chance yet to recalculate my budget, so I was just trying to get by with the meager seven dollars I had saved for emergencies until the end of the month. Now that I thought about it, it was probably a good thing I didn't go to that restaurant. I would have been banned regardless for not being able to pay for my food.

If I could possibly negotiate, I might be able to get out of this in one piece.

"Uh, could we possibly set up some sort of payment plan here or-"

"_Step aside."_

My head jerked over from where it was analyzing the wood grain on the floor, to the incoming group who were walking up through the outside hallway. Team Gai was approaching with Neji closest to me and Lee and Tenten trailing behind. Judging by how Neji's eyes were glancing over at the peeling paint on the railings and some on the laundry left out to dry, he was not very impressed by my living conditions.

Upon seeing them, I was immediately flooded with feelings of relief and guilt. Relief because I was finally able to track them down, and guilt because I had decided to basically ditch them and come here instead.

The Hyuga girl looked up at Neji with stars in her eyes, mouth slightly hanging open.

"N-Neji-sama!"

I couldn't help but do a double take at _that_ particular reaction. Neji actually had a fan club. I guess I shouldn't be _that_ surprised, but still-

The girl immediately moved away from the entrance, eagerly pushing her teammates back out of the way of the door. They looked pretty annoyed about it too, the blond boy glaring at her and the other boy scowling.

The other trio stepped forward to take their places, Neji in the lead and standing at the front.

I wasn't sure whether I should immediately apologize, or do what else exactly. Actually, I'm not even sure what an appropriate reaction would be at this point besides doing just that.

I gave an awkward wave in their director, wondering if it was an appropriate time to bow.

"H-Hey, guys. Sorry I didn't come meet you like I said I would, but I looked everywhere and still couldn't find you. Any luck finding the cat so far?"

How did they know where I lived anyway?

Luckily Lee stepped in to save me from any figurative smack down I might have received.

"It is fine Mako-san! We were searching the area here and received information from one of the residents that you were seen at this location recently! We have not been able to track it down as of yet, however, we have not given up hope!"

I nodded in relief, soaking in the new information. A little part of me there had wondered if they were just stalkers or something. Neji and his eyes really _were_ the perfect stalking material. Are there any laws on the books against using it like that or anything? I hoped so. I didn't exactly trust every single individual Hyuga to solely use their eyes for good.

I quickly nodded.

"Well, thanks for taking the time to find me. I'll help out however I can. I think there might be some good places nearby here we could check out."

Neji gave a sharp nod my way, turning around and beginning to walk off in the direction they came from.

"Let's go."

Surprised at the sudden command, I immediately scrambled for my keys, shutting my door behind me and locking. The blond kid narrowed his eyes the scene, glaring at Neji and tapping on his clipboard for emphasis.

"Hey! You can't just do that! We need her to stay here so we can complete our mission!"

Neji immediately stopped walking; turning back around to face the kid. Outwardly, he didn't show any signs that of what was said had any sort effect on him.

"She'll be back later. You can come back then."

I recoiled at that statement.

_Oh, no_. I was _definitely _camping out tonight. Maybe it was a good idea to just lay low for a couple days in general. Sneak in to take Tora with me and then go hide out in the woods somewhere, preferably the woods not being the forest of death.

The kid muttered some sort of disgruntled response, the other boy still scowling at the girl, and the girl watching on in awe the entire time.

Tenten just smiled at the blond kid, looking pretty apologetic yet resigned to this being how Neji usually acted.

"I'll make sure does and heads right back to her apartment, okay? Just come back here when all of your rounds are over. This really shouldn't take very long."

To the unsuspecting person, that might have been a really nice, comforting thing to say. For me though, the message was clear. We were going to have some quality girl time and have a heart to heart chat about my time in Tsunade's office once the mission was over and done.

Well I'm screwed.

I can't pay my debts and I'm going to be murdered. I guess the upside to that is that I won't have to worry about money when I'm dead.

The kid narrowed his eyes, glancing between me, Neji, and then Tenten.

"Fine. You better keep your word."

I wanted to sweat drop. This kid was apparently pretty dedicated to his job. His poor paying, tedious, low level, grunt work job. Chances were though that he was still richer than me.

We quickly left the Genin in our dust, descending single file down the stairs with Neji still in the lead and with myself at the back of the group. Once we touched the ground again, we formed into sort of semi-circle. Confusingly, no one really took any action besides just looking at me; well, besides Lee who was standing at attention.

'Oh, right', it quickly hit me. I said I would show them places around here to search. I quickly shook my head. I had to snap out of it and focus on the task at hand, no matter how badly this day was going so far.

Thinking through my options, I pointed towards a nearby alleyway that I sometimes cut through on my way to work. That was sort of around the same place where I found Tora too. There were some other spots we could check out too, but it was as good of place to start as any, really.

"I think we should check over there first. I've seen several cats hanging out around there before."

Lee saluted and affirmed with a shocking amount of enthusiasm for someone who had been doing this all day.

"Alright, Mako-san! Onwards then!"

He immediately ran off to where I had just pointed out, charging at full speed. Tenten let out an exasperated sigh, but just a quickly she and Neji followed right along behind him. I starting walking in that direction next, but once I noticed how quickly they were moving, my walking quickly turned into a jog.

We searched around the garbage filled alleyways for a while, turning over boxes and digging through trash. Neji's byakugan activated the entire time as he pointed out different locations they were hiding. I suppose that even if you can see all of the cats in Konoha, you still had to identify them up close to make sure if it was one you were looking for.

Tenten called out to one the alleyways, desperately hoping for some of reaction.

"Tora! Here, Tora! Come over here Tora!"

That was the name of the cat we were looking for. I had chalked it all up to coincidence, because really; that had to be a ridiculously common name for a cat. Still, a part of me wondered-

"What was her exact description again?"

Tenten opened a box that had been propped up against a wall, a black cat leaping out of it and then running off in the opposite direction. She quickly recited a concise description.

"Ribbon on right ear, brown fur with lighter markings and amber eyes."

This was the first time I had finally gotten the full picture laid out in front of me. Tsunade probably didn't think it was needed earlier, seeing apparent infamy of this cat. When I first found Tora she had a ribbon on her ear, didn't she? _And_ I found her on the streets _and_ she fits that exact description to a't'. With that many similarities, it couldn't just be a coincidence right? Then _that_ means-

My body instantly froze, eyes flickering around to look at the three people whom had just spent their entire day on a wild good chase for a mission that was usually handed off to Genin teams. Now that I thought about it, until team Gai was assigned it, how many Genin teams exactly had been given this job and failed?

Then reality of it hit me full force.

I was _so _screwed. I was so completely and utterly screwed that the Forest of Death would be the only safe place for me left. If they knew, I'd have countless people after my head who would automatically rip Tora out of my arms without the slightest bit of hesitation. I didn't know much about Tora's actual owner, but I had the strong feeling that they weren't taking as good of care of her as they should.

"Mako-san, are you alright?"

I jumped, whipping my head around to look at the worried Lee. He was currently holding a white short haired cat, which once he loosened his grip, immediately leaped out from his arms with a hiss. I tried my best to not run screaming from how nerve-racking this whole situation had just become.

"Y-Yeah." I managed to stutter out. "I'm just wondering if maybe I'm allergic to cats. Thinking about it kind of freaked me out for a second there."

He looked a bit confused at first, but quickly gave me a smile and nodded, returning back to the search. I could swear I felt someone's eyes on me, burning into my back as I shakily opened up a trashcan to look pointlessly inside. It wasn't worth the extra energy to turn around though, seeing as how I had a pretty good idea of exactly who it was.

* * *

><p>AN: I realized the other day that this story has gotten over a hundred reviews and follows, and had also technically hit its 40th chapter. o_o That's pretty incredible really for something I went into writing without having any of the story planned out ahead of time. I just started writing and went with it. Thanks for all of the support! I really appreciate it how long people have stuck with me for this.<p>

I am still technically doing NaNoWriMo right now, but I decided to take the rebel route. That means I working on several things right now and adding up the total word count from all of it. I was pretty stuck, so I decided to come back to this and write out a chapter. I was trying to decide if I should make this longer, but I just decided to try and match the lengths of the rest of my chapters. I never really realized how short 2,000 words really was. ^^;

While away from this for a little while, I finally figured out the rest of how this story is going to go and eventually end. (I think) One day I'd love to do a rewrite, but today is not that day.

New chapter should be up very soon after this one.


	44. Doom, Death, & Despair

After about three hours of fruitless searching, our group came up empty and only a few cat scratches to show for our efforts. We ended up parting and each going our separate ways, Lee heading off to do his thousand laps around the village on his hands for not being able to find Tora in time. I felt the immediately a stab of guilt as I watched him run off as full speed.

"Ready to go?"

At the sound of her voice my blood instantly went cold, heart pounding and hands starting to sweat. I gritted my teeth together, trying to call upon a smile that I could plaster on my face to hide my complete and utter terror. Taking a couple of deep breaths, I turned around, forcing the corners of my mouth up.

"Sure. It would be bad if we missed them right?"

Tenten nodded her head, smiling back at me while maintain her usual façade. No matter how nice she looked on the outside, it's pretty hard to get past the real her who had held a kunai to my neck and probably would rather have me dead than alive to make any possibly disastrous changes.

We both headed back in the direction of my apartment building with Tenten leading, I myself purposely trying to move as slowly as I could while it still seeming natural.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad if I actually had anything to show for my efforts. But that's the thing. I _didn't. _Nothing. Nada. Zilch. There were only two days left. What could really be done now when I practically exhausted all of my options?

Before I knew it, I was standing right in front of my apartment door, my body having had moved on autopilot this entire time as I was panicking. Tenten watched attentively as I just stared at the metal door in front of me.

I was really going to have to open it, wasn't I?

I numbly reached for my key, sliding it in the lock and turning it slowly. With a click, the door was opened and the door pushed to the side, and I was welcomed to my apartment just as I had it exactly left it last time. Tenten came in after me, closing the door behind us and locking it with a 'click'.

Standing for some reason just felt_ wrong_ to me, so I ended up scurrying to sit down on the couch, waiting to receive whatever my fate was that was about to me handed to me. Tenten instead started looking around my apartment for a while, peering into my bathroom and bedroom before nodding to herself and coming back to stand right in front of me. She finally dropped all traces of the smiling person she always pretended to be.

"I've checked your place for bugs and it seems to be clear. The ANBU stationed outside seems to be at far enough of a distance that they won't be able to hear what we're saying. I would put up a privacy seal, but that would probably end up being more suspicious then helpful."

So the person watching me was really an ANBU? But not just that-

"You know how to make seals?"

The girl shrugged.

"With something as powerful as useful as that sitting around to be learned, how could I not? Plus Tenten uses some seals on weapons. It's not that much of a stretch."

I just watched as she took a seat on top of my kitchen table, crossing her legs.

"And it not like I really had anything better to do."

She scowled, looking off in the distance at nothing in particular.

"God, my life sucks."

I just stared, my response being the very eloquent, "Uh…"

She turned to look at me with a grim expression covering her face, her eyes taking on a glazed look.

"You're lucky you know? You can just be yourself. There isn't some person you have to always pretend to be and spend every waking moment trying to 'stay in character'. It's like my own personal hell."

To that, I wasn't sure what to say. It never really occurred to me before what this might be like for her when I ran into her a while ago.

"I'm… sorry."

She continued on like I hadn't responded at all.

"And you know the worst part? You start to forget who you actually are along the way. It's like you're two different people competing for dominance. On the inside you know who you really are, but the rest of the world is convinced that you're someone completely different. Eventually you even start to believe them, since the truth is all something you have to be stuck with to know alone."

I tried to comment once again.

"Then why do it at all? Why did you decide to act exactly like Tenten in the first place? It's not like people would have known the difference between yourself and a what cannon Tenten was like if they never saw her before you were her."

She just shook her head, still staring at nothing.

"I didn't know what could go wrong. I couldn't risk it. If I decided to not be a ninja and a weapon specialist to compliment Lee and Neji's fighting styles and I wasn't there to play peacekeeper, who knows what would happen."

In theory it all made sense, but I didn't totally buy it. Maybe I just assumed that the universe would all correct itself in the end. Or maybe since I decided not to believe in all of this, I never thought far enough to think about the potential consequences.

"I made my choice then and I just can't go back on it now. I only have a couple of more years to go anyway. Once this is all over maybe I'll just open a weapon shop or something. Blacksmithing actually sounds interesting to me, not to mention it would be a very 'Tenten' thing to do."

She was trying her hardest to stick to Cannon, yet there was something she had told me before-

"What do you want to change?"

Her eyes widened a bit before she gained a resigned look.

"There's someone whose life I want to save. I honestly didn't care at first about them and I was fine with just living out the story as it was written. But the more time I spent here, the more I realized how much I really cared about certain people. Saving him is all I want to do for the changes I make."

It was a bit spontaneous, but a sudden idea popped into my mind.

I got up from the couch, standing up and walking over to the other girl with my hand extended.

"My name's Kay Masterson. I'm from Midwest America and I'm actually seventeen years old instead of the eighteen I am here. It's nice to meet you."

She stared at the outstretched hand for a moment, eyes wide. She slowly reached her own hand before grabbing mine and limply shaking it.

"Maya Tremblay. Ontario, Canada. I guess if you add it up I'm really thirty five, though I look like I'm sixteen and my brain development is about the same. And… you too."

It was strange to see a person like this. She looked so… _dead, defeated?_ when rambling on about everything she had. Maya, it was nice to know her real name, really had been suffering all alone like this for years and years. I couldn't imagine having to live like that, and even if you weren't an important character like her, just being the only one to know so many things and no one to share in your pain or relate to.

No more. I wouldn't let it.

I took my hand back; Maya's falling down limply from where it had been held up.

"Alright, we're going to become friends and I won't take a 'no' for an answer. I know you hate me and overall are not my number one fan, but you're just going to have to deal, Maya."

She jerked a bit at the sudden use of her real name, but her face surprised look quickly formed a confused expression.

"What? I don't hate you. I mean, I'm pretty annoyed and frustrated with you at the moment, but I'm not the kind of person who just decides to hate random strangers."

I don't know who was more shocked, me or her.

"Y-You don't?"

She frowned.

"No. What, do you just assume everyone who tries to stab you with a kunai hates you or something?"

I stared.

"Is that a serious question…?"

She quickly shook her head while rubbing her temples.

"Sorry, I forgot you're not a ninja. Let me rephrase that. Do you just automatically assume that everyone who gets mad at you hates you for some reason or another?"

I jumped a bit in my seat.

"N-No…!"

She gave me a very skeptical look.

"_Sure." _

Even if she said that, I knew I wasn't completely off with my other assumptions.

"Well what about if you _know_ you've wronged them or insulted them on a very personal level?"

Maya raised an eyebrow.

"What did you _do_ exactly?"

I had to really think about the answer to that question. It was starting to feel like the better question to ask would be, 'what_ didn't_ you do?'

I slouched back down on my couch, sinking into the cushions and trying to melt away.

"It's a long story."

Maya kicked off her shoes and sent them flying towards the front door.

"I have time."

I looked down at my own shoes, wondering if I should take them off as well. If I needed to run for my life though, it wouldn't be a good idea to be doing that barefoot.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded.

"I'm sure. I'm guessing that this has the explanation of what you were talking about Tsunade today in it?"

I flinched back.

"Uh, yeah. Eventually. Probably."

She narrowed her eyes. In turn I cleared my throat, looking down at the very fascinating couch upholstery.

"Well, I guess it all began when I woke up at the hospital."

"You can just skip that part. I don't need to know about your life from the moment you were born."

I looked back up.

"Uh, no actually. I really literally woke up here at the hospital. About three month ago I think."

"That's… not possible."

I glanced downwards again.

"_It is_ because it happened. I fell asleep in the real word and woke up here instead of having my normal dreams."

There was a long moment of silence before Maya decided to speak again.

"I don't know how to put this exactly-"

I looked up at her from where I was sitting, suddenly looking very sympathetic towards me. It was kind of creepy.

"But you're dead."

I couldn't help but scowl.

"No. I'm not."

The expression that appeared on her face next is only what I can describe as being total and utter dumbfoundedness.

"Y-Yes you are!"

I wanted to roll my eyes.

"Look, after I woke up here that first time and I tried to leave the hospital after apparently waking up from a basically lifelong coma-"

"You what!?"

"I got knocked out by Tsunade and woke back up in my room at home."

Suddenly Maya stood up from where she was sitting, starting to pace frantically around the room.

"That shouldn't be possible! That's not how it works!"

I continued on.

"So then I went to school as usual, and then once again when asleep at night woke up in the Naruto world. This time I was in a forest and being transported by a bunch of elite ninja until I got knocked out once again-"

"How many times did you get knocked out exactly?"

Huh, that was a good question. I started counting on my fingers.

"Technically two, though if you count the times I fainted four."

"Okay. So-"

Maya stopped pacing as sat back on the table, face buried in her hands.

"What you're saying is that you somehow came here in your dreams multiple times before and were not actually dead when doing it?"

I slowly nodded.

"Yeah, that about sums it up."

She slowly started rocking back and forth before looking up at me, her face pale.

"Then when you sleep here, do you wake up back in the 'real world'?"

I shook my head.

"I did, well, until I realized my unconscious body was being taken on a road trip where my soul was somehow sealed away in this body and I became stuck here for good."

I lifted up the side of my shirt, revealing the edges of the giant and intricate seal that covered a huge amount of my side.

"That is unless I can get it unsealed. Then I can finally wake up from this nightmare and go home."

Maya crept a bit closer, eyes running over the intricate lines.

"May I?"

I pulled up the side of my shirt a bit farther.

"Uh, yeah. Go ahead. Maybe you can unseal it for me."

She looked over it for a while in deep concentration, forehead pinched.

"This thing is insanely intricate. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before. Who put this on you?"

I tried to think back to all that happened a while ago, though my memories were getting a bit hazy about the entire event.

"There was an old woman who lived far up in the mountains somewhere, literally living _inside_ the mountains. She said something about being extremely old, maybe even immortal now if I think about it, and from being from before the time of some person named-"

On this I was totally blanking.

"The path of five sages?"

Maya recoiled back, in what I think was shock.

"That Sage of Six Paths?! That's insane!"

Suddenly she gripped my shoulders, staring me in the eyes with a hungry sort of desperation.

"You have to tell me where she is. If we could get her on Konoha's side, then maybe we wouldn't even have to deal with the war in the first place!"

It was safe to say that I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

"War?"

I tried to shake off her increasingly tightening grip she had on me.

"I never got that far in the manga. Apparently Tsunade used up her last favor for the seals, so I doubt she'll be willing to help any further."

She released me from her hold, stepping back to rub her face.

"You have no idea how many more questions I have every time you speak. I guess the first think to ask would be how far you actually _did_ read."

Something I could finally answer with complete certainty.

"I just finished the Gaara retrieval arc. If it makes it any better though, I've read a lot of fanfiction that have helped fill in the blanks."

My moment of triumph was quickly interrupted by,

"Oh God. We're screwed."

I watched with complete and utter confusion as she went back to slowly rocking back and forth and her face buried in her hands.

"… So what did you mean by 'seals' plural?"

"I also have a seal on my tongue that translates everything we're saying so that it sounds like English to me."

Suddenly Maya stopped moving, taking her hands away from her face and starting at me in wide eyes.

"We've been talking in English this entire time. Didn't you realize?"

I suddenly felt a bit nauseous.

"No, I didn't."

"When I say this, do you recognize it as being Japanese that I'm talking in?"

I shook my head.

"No. It all still sounds the same to me."

"…And you responded in Japanese this time."

My mind started racing back in time, going back to a point where I had another confrontation when it came to what I was saying things strangely.

_"You were speaking in a way different than our own."_

That's what Ibiki began interrogating me about after I put on my one woman musical extravaganza in torture and interrogation. It didn't make much sense then, but maybe…

"I'm going to sing, and I need you to tell me if it's in English or Japanese."

"…What?"

I tried to think up a song that would be perfect for this scenario. Something I knew really well, something I've memorized the lyrics to-

"_Is this the real life, is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality. Open your eyes, look up at the sky and see-"_

"Is that Bohemian Rhapsody?"

I eagerly nodded.

"Yeah, I listen to that on replay all the time. So what language was it in?"

She scrunched her eyebrows together.

"English. I guess that means you can control what language you want to speak in if you try hard enough. Actually, let me try one last thing. I hope my years of Spanish have stuck with me a bit."

She mused for moment before speaking.

"Hello. How are you? I am good. I like beans in my pants."

"…You like beans in your pants?"

She leaped up, pointing at me excitedly.

"Ha! You responded in Spanish! It looks like that seal of yours is some kind of Rosetta stone of magical properties! That's totally incredible!"

I blinked a couple of extra times.

"Thanks…?"

"However the person who made these was clearly amazing! Do you think you could point out the location of where she lives?"

I hated to burst her bubble, but-

"I don't think so, sorry. I wasn't even conscious in this world most of the time on the way there, and on the way back I found out that the entire forest outside out it was full of dangerous animals that even Jonin and Anbu didn't want to run into. Even if I had a map, I don't think I could point it out either."

Her shoulders slumped.

"With an ally like that, why did Tsunade- No offence to you or anything- just waste it like that?"

Offense taken.

I returned a shrug.

"Your guess is as good as mine. And that's the not the only time she's helped me out for some unknown reason. Like after I was mauled-"

"How did you even…"

I decided to ignore her and continue on.

"She sent someone to make sure I was mentally sound, and afterwards I found out that this guy Daichi was apparently sent by her to protect me, instead of guard me as a criminal. And then later I think she somehow made it possible I could enter the academy, despite my age."

Maya resumed her pacing.

"Nothing about you adds up, that's for sure. So I guess you aren't dead then? But I swore the only way anyone would end up being here would be through reincarnation-"

She suddenly stopped, turning to look at me.

"Didn't you say that you were older here than you were in 'real life'?"

I nodded, Maya returning back to her pacing.

"That's the opposite of what it should be, isn't it?"

I wasn't really following her train of thought yet. I read self insert fanfiction before, but not _that_ many of them. This really wasn't my forte.

"I guess so? The only thing that's the same between Mako and I are our birthdays."

"How much of your life exactly were you in a coma?"

This whole referring to Mako and I as the same person thing was beginning to become a lot more confusing.

"Apparently since she was a year old."

"Exactly?"

I shook my head.

"No idea."

"And you never woke up here before until that first time in the hospital?"

"Yeah."

Maya picked up her walking speed, and I swore if she kept it up she was going to start wearing a trail into my floors.

"What triggered it then? Why wake up now after so many years? It makes no sense, but it couldn't have just been some random occurrence."

All I could do was watch as she tried to put the pieces together. I was originally assuming that we were going to get together to talk about my failures at stopping the wedding, not try and put the puzzle pieces together of my situation. I guess what I should be wondering is why I hadn't tried harder to figure it all out myself. Honestly, this was probably a more pressing issue than what could one day be pushed off as a filler episode material. But I never did. What was wrong with me? I mean, I didn't completely forget about it, yet what I was panicking about recently probably wasn't what I should have been.

"Are- Are you sure this isn't just all a dream? Couldn't all of this that is happening just be something I came up with in my mind? The seal being just some sort of mental block I created for myself when I fell into a coma in the real world?"

Maya stopped dead in her tracks, turning to me to stand and stare.

"Is _that _what you've been thinking this entire time?"

She started to mutter to herself.

"Actually, that makes a lot of sense considering all of the rumors going around about you…"

"There are rumors?"

Her voice switched back to its original volume.

"Look, Kay."

I instinctually straightened up in my seat at the new commanding tone in her voice.

"I honestly don't know if it's my place to break this little delusion of yours. It seems to be your coping mechanism or something. With how you've explained your situation, I guess that's not a completely absurd conclusion for you to come to, really."

I found that there was a simmering anger welling up from within me. Delusion?! Well, I mean- It's-

"There's this statistic I read about a long time ago. It's more likely that you are just a giant space jellyfish imagining the entire world and everything that happens, than there to be seven billion individual people in the world with their own individual thoughts. But the thing is that I think I'm the space Jellyfish and that you're fake, but you also think the same thing about me. It's impossible to prove who here is actually right."

"Space jellyfish…?"

"That's not the point!"

She sighed.

"I've lived here sixteen long years now. I can't say I'm really enjoying myself or anything. Naruto wasn't even one of my favorite series. I just kept up with it and decided to read a few chapters here or there once in a while to pass the time. Maybe it would of helped my sanity bit to tell myself that one day I could go home, and that the world I found myself stuck in was all in my head. But that's not all that healthy either. Once you start seeing characters as people, you can't go back. Because then everything becomes more than just a story. It becomes reality."

I felt my throat start to tighten, an unsettling feeling in my stomach starting to grow.

"So I guess what I'm saying is that maybe your right and this is all fake. But maybe I'm right and this is actually another world that we've both somehow found ourselves stuck in. For me, too many signs point to this being real."

I burst in, unable to contain a sudden feeling of urgency.

"I realized recently- That whether or not this is fake doesn't really matter in the long run. Because I don't want to be the kind of person who is the cause of the suffering of others. I'm the one who screwed up, so other people shouldn't have to be the ones to pay for my mistakes. It's just not right."

I'm not sure if she was surprised at my response or what, seeing how straight she kept her face, but in the end she just nodded.

"There's still too much I need to talk to you about. We'll have to get together at my place next time to talk again. Then we can try and figure out something in more detail without a time crunch weighing on us. And speaking of which-"

I swear her eyes suddenly turned into laser beams that were burning into my very soul.

"I think we should start talking about what I originally came here for. We don't have much time left. I'm hoping you've solved the problem."

I gulped.

And if that wasn't bad enough, I heard a sudden meow coming from the direction of my bedroom. Slowly turning my head, I saw Tora peering out through the open doorway in plain view of both of us.

I gulped a second time, beads of sweat starting to form on my forehead.

This would not be ending well for me.

* * *

><p>AN: I feel like there was much more I wanted them to talk about, but in the end I decided to save it for a later chapter. I need to write about ten thousand words in the next two days, so expect another chapter or two coming your way very soon.<p> 


	45. Debts

My breathing suddenly hitched. Tora must of either have gotten really bored after hiding under my bed for so long, or actually didn't feel completely fearful in Maya's presence. That poor, poor, cat.

I silently urged her to go run away and hide with all of my mental might. Instead Tora walked forward and right up to Maya, meowing loudly and rubbing herself up against her leg. Maya herself looked down with wide eyes, no doubt by now noting the very specific coloration of her fur in relation to a specific cat she had been looking for all day.

I barely breathed as I noticed her eyes narrow, hand slowly moving towards her kunai holster as it twitched erratically.

"This wouldn't happen to be-"

She smiled at me sweetly, a kunai being now twirled around dangerously in one hand.

"Tora, would it?"

I froze.

"Um. She is _a_ Tora, but not necessarily _the_ Tora."

She tilted her head slightly to the side.

"So you wouldn't mind then if I brought her with me to the Hokage's office to see if the _real_ owner recognizes her?"

No matter what, I couldn't let that happen.

Before I even realized what I was doing, my body reacted on its own. I jumped off of the couch, running up to grab Tora from where she was on the floor. I frantically scooped her up into my arms, holding her tightly and backtracking slowly towards the entrance without leaving the now stunned looking Maya out of my line of sight.

"Did you just-?"

I held Tora a little closer.

"I won't let you take her. Even if I have to leave the village and somehow outsmart my ANBU guard in the process."

Her mouth dropped open.

"You can't be serious!"

I stood resolute.

"I am."

We remained at a standstill for quite some time, neither of us budging from the spots were currently standing at. As Maya took a couple of steps forward I took a few more back. The poor Tora was scrambling to get out of my arms, not a big fan of being held tightly. If I wasn't careful she'd claw at my face in an attempt to get away. But if I let her do that, she'd be grabbed by the now on guard Maya.

This standstill couldn't go on forever, and one of us had significantly more ninja training than the other. Unless I thought up a plan soon, I knew which one of us was going to be the one to lose. When I really put my mind to it, I knew I could scheme. I just really hadn't stretched that muscle enough lately.

I tried to make my tone as even as possible as I carefully spoke my calculated words.

"I'll make a deal with you. We deal with this wedding thing first, and then afterwards we both sit down like civilized human beings we are, or I wish to believe we are, and talk it through about Tora before taking any drastic measures."

Maya's eyes narrowed.

"What do I get out us this then?"

"I actually agreeing not to avoid the important topic here and not fleeing from you on sight?"

She continued to frown, taking a very strenuously long minute to think through my offer before giving an answer.

"Fine. I'll agree _for_ _now_."

She slipped her kunai back into her pack and I took the opportunity to let Tora down from my arms. Once her paws touched the floor she immediately scrambled off to go hide under my bed again. The fact that Maya didn't instantly follow, I took as a good sign.

She sat back down on my kitchen table and she motioned for me to take a seat back down on the couch. If I was actually going to start having people over, I seriously needed to buy another chair or something. I plopped back down, my body growing tense under her fierce stare.

"Well, you see-"

I recounted the day's events from her, including my failed attempt at subtleness and Tsunade's grand reveal. During this her expression morphed a couple of times, some of it indistinguishable. At the very end when I mentioned the date of doom, she only nodded.

"I got word of that too. I was hoping that something could have been done about if before hand-"

I shivered at the sudden chill in the air.

"But at this rate there's only one thing we can do left."

My ears perked up at that. What was her idea exactly? Bribing, subtle manipulation, some sort of super special awesome sort of ninja undercover work? She knew this world's culture and society better than I did. Her knowledge of this world's weddings could be invaluable to whatever plan she might have come up with.

"We crash it."

…Come again?

"We-We what?!"

She crossed her arms, nodding to herself.

"We crash the wedding. Or you do at least. I still have my act to maintain of course."

I stood up from my seat.

"Are you kidding me?! That's a terrible idea! There has to be another way!"

Maya raised an eyebrow.

"Well, do you have one then? I'm all ears if you have anything better."

I went quiet at that.

"Look, as far as I've heard you apparently have no shame in acting like a total spaz half of the time. At this rate you'll be the new village menace, though you're not quite up to child Naruto levels yet. "

_That's _what people thought about me?!

"So this shouldn't be very hard for you to pull off really."

I glared.

"But there's still the part where we need to stop the rumor and clear Kakashi's name. How is this supposed to do that?"

"Leave that part of it to me. It's not like I'm just going to throw you to the wolves. I'll being working doing background stuff. "

I'll admit, her plan sort of sounded like it could_ potentially_ work, but I wasn't yet feeling completely convinced by her words. Call me a skeptic, but I wanted a bit more assurance than just a vague statement or two.

"Like what exactly? And how exactly am I supposed to crash it anyway? Is there an ideal time or moment for me to burst in and cause a disruption? I really don't know all that much about Japanese culture besides what my older sister has told me and what I've learned about in school. And with that little bit of knowledge, Japanese weddings never exactly came up on my radar."

Maya gave me a slight nod.

"I'll be doing some resonance and running interference. If there's anything I have faith in, it would be my own acting abilities. Tenten isn't known to be a liar, so I should be able to play off of that. As for the details behind what weddings here are like-"

She shrugged.

"I've actually never been to a wedding here before. People just don't get married very often within my social circle. One of those side effects of having a career where you could die at any time."

You don't say…

"So do you then actually know anything from personal experience?"

Maya shook her head.

"I don't, though from what I've heard, weddings can really differ depending on how traditional the families of the bride and groom are, and how much money they're willing to spend. Luckily we at least know that Kakashi's and Anko's wedding is more on the western style side."

I nodded slowly, trying to soak in of the new information.

"Then the whole order of events then should be sort of similar then, right?"

She shrugged again.

"Probably."

You know, that doesn't actually sound very reassuring…

"So basically, we have to stop them at the altar before anything goes down."

Maya nodded .

"That probably sums it up. We'll figure out the smaller details later."

I took a deep breath, trying to come to terms with the new plan.

"Alright. We can meet up here tomorrow after I get off from the academy and work out all of that."

"Fine with me."

"Great."

"Okay."

"Yeah."

"Alright…"

"Good…"

Our conversation quickly trailed off into a long awkward silence, neither of us sure of what to say now that a consensus had been reached. It quickly occurred to me that we didn't actually knowone another other, or at least not really. The only things we had talked about with each other so far were about getting stuck here and our planning. I didn't know a single thing she genuinely liked. I probably knew more about what Tenten liked than her. And that was saying something.

In a poor attempt to break the awkward atmosphere between us, I turned to a neutral subject. Food.

"So… Uh, by chance would you like some free shrimp ramen?"

She returned my sudden question with a blank stare.

"Uh- No thanks. I'm fine."

In my persistence, I quickly ran over to my cupboards, throwing up the correct cabinet door and displaying my large ramen pyramid collection for all to see. Maya just stared wide-eyed at my architectural masterpiece.

"Are you sure? It's some pretty delicious stuff. And free. Free food always tastes better."

She shook herself out her initial reaction, instead giving me an odd look.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Why the sudden offer?"

Because I had too much of this disgusting stuff, and the more I could pawn off on other people, the better. I _did _think about selling it off on the side of the road somewhere, but I doubt being seen doing that will do any wonders for my reputation. I was kind of hoping to recoup that again, but with the wedding crashing plan, if I decided to hit the ramen black market I doubted it would do much more harm.

"Because- Well, you seem like someone who would like ramen! Go ahead; take as much as you want!"

Well, this _is_ the Naruto world. Apparently_ everyone_ here eats ramen. It's like some kind of sin if you don't. I mean, even I went out to eat ramen here out of some weird sort of compulsion.

Maya slowly walked over to the cabinet, reaching upwards and grabbing a single cup off of the very top of the stack. She turned to me, giving a slight nod.

"Thanks."

I smiled back.

"Of course!"

I turned my head just enough to check on the state of the pyramid. What she took didn't even make a dent. I still had quite a lot more to get rid of, and the more I had to look at it the more I regretted stocking up way back when. I just needed to be patient though, hold onto my composure-

"Are you sure you don't want more?"

Maya's eyes narrowed, though just slightly enough to be intimidating.

"Yes, I'm sure."

It's probably not a good idea to antagonize the person whom I just made a truce with and also seems to like pulling out sharp objects when angry.

I let out a small strained laugh.

"Oh, okay! I was just wondering."

Maya walked back over to where she had thrown her shoes, slipping them on to her feet with her free hand. While she was busy with that; I left the room, going around my apartment to making sure Tora had everything she needed while stuffing some fresh clothes and toiletries into my school bag as I went. I crawled where Tora was hiding underneath my bed and reached out to pet her on her behind the ears. I thought about taking her with me, but with the new price on her head, that wasn't really such a good idea anymore.

"I'll be back tomorrow, okay Tora?"

I got back a 'meow' in response.

Scooting back out, I got up and scurried out of my bedroom and headed to the front door, slinging my bag over my shoulders. Maya was waiting for me, leaning up against the front wall. She gave a half wave in my direction.

"Kay, I'm going to head out. Thanks for inviting me over."

Inviting you over. Yes. I totally did that of my own free will.

I nodded.

"Um, yeah. Sure. Let me walk you out."

I opened up the front door, flicking off the lights as Maya headed out before me. I soon followed, shutting it behind me and locking it as usual before descending down the stairs after her. Once we hit the ground, Maya turned to face to face me with a bright, cheery smile on her face.

"It was really fun hanging out with you Mako-chan! We should train together some time!"

My mouth instantly dropped open, mind not registering what I was seeing in front of me.

Maya-Tenten tilted her head slightly, her expression concerned.

"Is everything all right?"

I was somehow able to mutter out a response.

"Y-Yeah. It's just that I apparently have no friends. This is a very emotional moment for me."

I couldn't believe I almost forgot about Maya's Tenten persona! For some reason I thought she was going to stay that way instead of spontaneously reverting back without a bit of warning. It was weird seeing her cheerful and smiling, in large contrast to her actual self.

Wow, that sounded like a horrible thing to say.

I tried my best to relax my face and pick up my jaw off of the ground.

'Tenten' patted me lightly on the shoulder.

"_I'm_ your friend, remember? I'm sure I you got to know some people they'd be happy to be friends with you too."

I was having a really hard time detecting how much sincerity was actually in those two statements.

"Yeah… Thanks."

She nodded eagerly at my reply.

"Of Course! I'll see you later then."

She waved to me one last time and took a left, walking back towards the direction of where many of the shops and businesses were located. The natural light was starting to dim, the sun beginning to set in the horizon. Once Maya had walked far enough of a distance away and had turned a corner; I started walking the opposite way down the street that led towards the nice woods filled training grounds.

I turned right at a small park with some swings and a couple of benches, few people there this time of day except a few stragglers. Now that I thought about it, I could always sleep on a bench tonight, but in such a public area, it would be too easy to be tracked down. Seclusion was the way to go.

So I kept walking, passing by a few shops, the oh so famous training grounds of team seven, some much lesser known ones, until I came to one of the more wooded and overgrown ones nearby the village walls. I scanned the area, noting the lone weathered tree stump off to one side and several old broken targets nailed to the trees or in pieces on the ground around the area.

I took my bag off of my shoulders, plopping it down on top of the tree stump. Taking another look around, I found myself without a clue about what to do next.

Maybe I could practice or something…? Play spot the ANBU? Clean this place up and turn it into my own personal hideout/training grounds/ home away from home?

I flopped down on my back.

At times like these I really wish I had my phone on me for entertainment. I had the feeling that if I didn't have ninja school and the wedding stuff to distract me, I'd be bored out my mind here. I couldn't read for entertainment, I didn't have friends to hang out with or talk to; I didn't even have music to listen to in my free time. I really missed music. The silence here is deafening.

There were some rustling noises coming from the woods around me, but I didn't bother to get up. There couldn't possibly be anything all that dangerous around here anyway. Plus if there were, I'm sure my ANBU guard would take care of it for me.

Speaking of which, to them seeing me randomly running off to sleep in the woods, must be some really weird behavior.

Eh he…

But choosing between finding myself in serious trouble with debt collectors or becoming one with nature, I choose my impromptu camping trip. I really should have at least thought about bringing some blankets or something. Too bad I couldn't just magic one into existence or something. I guess I'm in the wrong series for something like that. But seriously, why wasn't there a jutsu for that? You'd think it would be really useful with the constant trips ninja take.

As I laid back, the rustling noises only continued. At this rate I had no idea how I would fall asleep tonight.

I quickly sat up, looking around to try and find the direction the disturbance was coming from. Listening a bit more, it seemed that it was coming from my right. I _could_ get up to investigate, but the desire to be lazy was just too strong.

Flopping back down, I looked up at the sky again, noticing the now dark blue color. I really needed to find somewhere to sleep that was more comfortable, though it seemed my options were looking pretty limited. I tucked my arms behind my bed and kicked back, waiting to fall asleep. That would probably be hours from now though.

When it came down to it though, sleep here was probably the most boring thing of all. When your life seems like a dream, it doesn't seem like you're sleeping at all. It's just a never ending cycle.

My sights rested on the sky, waiting for the stars to come out. I wondered if the constellations were at all similar to the ones back in the real world. Comparing them would be probably be a much simpler thing to do though if I _actually_ knew any outside the big and little dipper.

If I was really bored I could always do homework. I _did_ after all bring my backpack with me. But on second thought-

Nope.

* * *

><p>AN: I'm happy to say that I was able to finish NaNoWriMo. :D I would have had this chapter posted up sooner but I wasn't sure how to end it. I think how I did it works well enough.<p>

At this rate I think the wedding subplot (arc?) will come to its climax in the next chapter or two. I finally figured out how that's going to go down but I'm still working out the specifics.


	46. Omake

AN: This is just quick a bonus chapter I wrote up for fun. It's not cannon to this story, but I thought it might be something enjoyable to read.

* * *

><p>"So…"<p>

I took another look at the calendar I had hanging up above the couch in my main living space.

"Do people even celebrate Christmas here? Aren't the majority of Japanese people Shinto-Buddhist?"

Maya shrugged from where she was sitting on top of my kitchen table, drinking a cup of tea while flipping through the pages of one of my children's books.

"I doubt it, and yes, that's correct. No one celebrates Christmas here in the Leaf, but maybe they do somewhere else in the world. I think in Japan it's sort of celebrated, but it's considered to be more of a romantic holiday. Basically completely commercial. I'm pretty sure most people there eat Christmas cake and KFC for some reason. Don't ask why I remember _that_ of all things."

"Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas. How… _nice_?"

I couldn't help but feel the cultural dissonance immediately. I was pretty sure my parents would kill me if I ran off and skipped all of our family get-togethers to go on a date. Wasn't the meaning of the holiday, well, besides the obvious one, to be about family and the spirit of giving?

I plopped down on the couch.

"Still... I feel like we should do something today. From what I've gathered either my family here hates me, is dead, or has disowned me, so trying to celebrate Christmas in Konoha would be a bit less all encompassing."

Then a sudden question stuck me. I tried to plaster on my best poker face to hide my curiosity.

"Hey Maya,"

She looked up from the pages, mouth formed into a line.

"What?"

I tried my best to phrase the question.

"Does Tenten by chance have a family? I've always been curious."

Her eyes narrowed before flicking back over to the book as she turned a page.

"It's complicated."

I narrowed my own eyes in return.

Well, that was… _helpful._ I'll have to dig for more information later. I'll learn Tenten's unanswered back-story one day…

Pretending I hadn't just been shrugged off, I continued on.

"Maybe I should just get a Christmas tree or something. I could, or both of us if you want to help, could decorate it."

She flipped a page.

"There aren't any Christmas tree farms here."

I frowned, wondering why that was such a big deal.

"So?"

"Have you seen how large the trees are around here?"

Considering that we're currently residing in a village known for its ancient and giant trees-

"I… I see your point."

Even if I chose a tree from inside the village, besides stealing public property, they would probably be still too big to fit in my house. Now that I thought about it, how many pine trees had I _actually_ seen around during my time in the Naruto world?

Crossing my arms and leaning back into the couch, I went through my mental Christmas checklist. So far being with family was out, no Christmas tree-

"Food! We could totally make some traditional Christmas food couldn't we?"

I swear I could hear the beginnings of a snort that quickly turned into a cough.

"Yeah, assuming you're either willing to hunt for it, or if the traditional Christmas food you usually eat is Japanese cuisine. There is literally only Asian food in the Naruto world."

My spirits deflated after my that attempt. This really wasn't going so well for me. At this rate, December twenty-fifth would be just another boring day in the life, away from my real family and the people I cared about. If I just threw away all of the important dates away like they didn't matter, well then put it eloquently, would suck.

"We could… sing Christmas songs? Give gifts to one another? Make poorly constructed Christmas decorations _while_ singing Christmas songs _followed_ by a gift exchange?"

Maya looked back up, eyes growing a little wider.

"Um, sure- I guess. I… I still remember how to make those paper snow flake things if that helps."

I nodded enthusiastically at her response.

"Yes, that's perfect! I know a couple of kids' crafts that I've made with my little cousins over the years. Those are simple enough for us to execute with having instructions on hand."

I couldn't help but smile. This seemed to be shaping up after all.

"So what would you like as a present anyway?"

She took a couple of longs seconds to answer, tapping her fingers along the spine of the book.

"I guess Tenten would like-"

I had to immediately cut her off.

"No, what do _you_ want?"

I caught the quick flash of surprise on her face before it was wiped off.

"I-"

She fidgeted a bit in her seat.

"I don't know. People don't really buy me things. What about you?"

I had had to think about that question a little while myself before answering.

"No idea. I would ask for some sort of DVD or electronics, but they don't seem to have that here."

We both sat in our respective awkward corners of the room, wondering what sort of material things we wanted that the Naruto world had to offer. Seeing as how I wasn't much of a fighter, that question for me went unanswered.

"We could… donate the money instead to a charity?"

Maya slowly shook her head.

"I don't think they have those here. Unless you want to go pay more taxes or find a small temple orphanage somewhere in another village."

"Volunteer somewhere and spread the goodwill?"

"I think those are called D rank missions."

"Teach other people Christmas songs too and go caroling to brighten people's days?"

"I don't think they translate very well."

"We could feed the homeless?"

"When was the last time you saw a homeless person in Konoha? We don't exactly have slums here."

I slumped back into my seat. I swore that this shouldn't be this hard.

"Well what do you suggest we do instead of giving gifts or doing something constructive with the money instead?"

Maya just shrugged, setting the book down on top of the table.

"We could just go pig out on food. I remember that being a big part of Christmas."

Well…True enough.

"What should we go eat though? Something a bit more traditional would be good. There might be something similar if we look hard enough."

She took one last sip of her tea.

"Why don't we just go eat sushi? The best stuff is for special occasions. Like today. We should go. I'm sure most places are open right now actually."

I got the strong feeling she just wanted to eat sushi, but I didn't really have anything better to offer up as an alternative.

"Why don't we buy some sushi as take out and then share it with the neighbors? Or people we come across on the streets?"

"But that stuff is expensive."

"Exactly!"

There was a long drawn out silence, followed a sigh.

"Fine. But I want to pick out the pieces I'm going to eat first."

I nodded quickly in agreement.

"It's a deal. We should get going though if we want to decorate while there's still daylight."

"Right."

The two us soon got up and left my apartment, heading out to one of Maya's favorite sushi places. Though I didn't know it at the time, December twenty-fifth would later become known as sushi day, a day in which people shared in the gift of giving usually expensive food to one another as a sign of good will. Then several years later it would just become a market ploy to sell sushi. Holiday magic I tell ya.

And I once again went completely broke.

* * *

><p>AN: This is sort of in a way my response to those Naruto Christmas themed fanfics out there. ^^; I'm honestly not sure if Christmas would even be a thing in the Naruto world. I have actually done quite a bit of research on Christmas in Japan, and if you're curious you should definitely go look up more about if yourself.<p>

I just hope this isn't offensive to anyone somehow. It's all in good fun.

Happy holidays to everyone who doesn't celebrate, and I hope you have a good rest of the year.


	47. Preparations

AN: I'd like to thank Moka-girl for their constructive criticism. I've gone ahead and planned out my next several chapters and I'm kicking up the pacing. You've been a big help. :)

And also, milpld made a good point about how it was strange to have two different types of self-inserts. That's actually an important plot point in the story. There's more going on here that has yet to be revealed.

* * *

><p>In the end, sleeping in the woods probably wasn't such a great idea after all, not that I really regretted my choice when faced with the alternative.<p>

I woke up drenched from morning dew and muscles sore from sleeping on the rock hard ground. I had almost wished that the ANBU watching me would have decided to make a touching scene out of this and had put a blanket over me as I slept.

I didn't quite get my Kodak moment.

After making my way to school and changing into fresh clothes in the bathroom, I found my regular seat inside the currently empty classroom. The lights were turned off, but the early morning light streamed through the windows for a nice soft sprinkling of sunshine instead.

I had to keep myself from getting caught up in the bubbling anxiety that was starting to slowly fill my gut.

There was only the rest of the day today before the wedding happened for real. No more hypothetical's to stand in for the unknown. No more desperate attempts at coming up with a plan. We had a plan. All that was left to do was figure out the small details before actually carrying the thing through.

Sure I had time left, but sometimes the buildup is the worst part.

I leaned back against the wall, letting my eyes wander to the clock hung up above the chalkboard. Six-thirty AM. So that meant I was here an hour and a half early.

Normally, no force on earth could make me to show up to school before it's required of me. I valued my sleep and sanity just too much. So right now I had a lot of free time until class started for the day.

I just _couldn't _wait to get to review things I learned back in fifth grade with a ninja spin followed by being beaten to the ground by small children.

Maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but that's what my life felt like to me right now. Stuck here and going to ninja school day after day in place of my high school classes. In reality, not as much fun as you might think. This place wasn't exactly Hogwarts.

I groaned, limply falling face forward onto my desk.

Why couldn't I have gotten stuck there instead? I could be learning magic right now instead of- well- _ninja_ magic. Though I guess at least here people graduate faster. And even if I was there, I'd still find myself in the position of being behind everyone my age by several years. That is assuming I even had any magical powers. And on top of all of that, I'd be stuck in the _nineties._ There would be no decent internet and I wouldn't have much for cell phone options. So pretty much just like here except less exotic.

When it came down to it, I wasn't quite sure which one of those two worlds would be safer to be stuck in. I think I knew even less about Harry Potter than I did Naruto. And that was probably saying something.

I let out a loud whine in the sanctuary of the empty room.

Once this wedding thing was over and done with tomorrow, I was seriously going to go off on a road trip already and find myself something interesting and adventurous to do. For being in a scenario, real or not, in which I'm stuck in the fictional world that I have more than a baseline interest in, I felt like I should have been doing more exciting or meaningful things with my time. I sort of missed the boat with doing some of that when I first got here. But hey, better late than never I suppose.

I sighed.

When you thought about it, I failed to make a single main character friend, which is very important in fanfiction for some reason, Maya not counting. I have nothing plot wise I'd even want to change, seeing as how I don't know any of it. Not that that doing that really seemed like all that good of an idea.

It was time to have an adventure of my own. To do something that wasn't the negative results of my own mistakes. It was time to do something exciting for once.

I could probably make it out there in the wild land of not Konoha. As much as I complain, I gave learning the ninja stuff my all. As long as the other person is an untrained bandit or something, I should be able to get away from them just fine. I could bring Tora with me; possibly walk her on a leash or something. I knew there were some cats who liked that. I could just save up all of my allowance for the next month and try to take on some odd jobs around the village if they don't become D rank missions first. Maybe take a part time job for a while. It could be really fun if nothing goes wrong and I do enough planning beforehand. And don't do anything spontaneous and without thinking about the consequences first.

I could totally do that. Sure my track record so far had been less than stellar, but people can change. And plus, there were still a few things left I wanted to do before going home.

The sound of the sliding door being pushed open echoed through the empty room. My eyes jumped over to the barely opened door and then back over to the clock. It had only been fifteen minutes. No one should be here, well, unless they we dedicated to attendance to the extent of beating even the teachers here.

With a swift movement, the door was pushed aside, revealing the last person I expected.

"Jun-kun?"

He suddenly froze right in the middle of the doorway, head snapping up to look at me. His expression made him look like a deer caught in headlights.

I slowly raised an arm, giving him small wave.

"Hey… what brings you here so early?"

He quickly turned his head to look back towards the doorway, before slowly turning back to me without looking me directly in the eyes.

"Nothing."

Riiiiiight.

I nodded, smiling back.

"Yeah. Me too."

Jun took another look towards the exit before taking a big gulp and started heading up to his seat.

Well this was going to awkward. Being by yourself in an empty room is fine, three people or more makes it a group, but two people is just awkward. Especially now that I didn't have my phone or an iPod to avoid having to talk to people. Technology is a very useful thing.

He sat down, refusing to look me in the eye and instead pulled out a book to read. Now that I thought about it, he always was here at school before I was, though so were lots of other people.

I reached into my bag, pulling out a pencil and a barely completed homework assignment. I read the third question on the page, only about a fourth of the words having any meaning for me. When this happened, I usually just read the words out loud and let my seal translate for me. But doing that here and now would be really… awkward.

I was using that word a lot today.

Ice breaker. I needed something relatable to both of us to talk about and that a ten year old would find interesting. Minus practically everything the ten year olds I know like from modern society.

Then it quickly hit me.

The wedding! I needed to update him on that anyway.

I put down my pencil, taking a second to clear my throat. Like on cue, Jun looked up from the pages of his book.

"I want to let you know that you don't have to worry about the wedding anymore."

His eyes widened.

"Really?"

I quickly nodded, throwing a smile on my face.

"Yup! Everything has been worked out, so you won't have to worry about it anymore."

"So it's all been canceled?"

I had to stop myself from cringing at the answer I was about to give.

"Well… not _exactly."_

He frowned.

"I thought you said you fixed it."

If there was anything I accomplished during my time here, I'd want it to be not letting this kid down. Maybe it was some sort of ingrained protective instinct. Maybe it was guilt. I didn't really know.

"We have, a friend of mine and I, but they only way for it to work would be if it happened during the wedding instead of before."

He gave me a skeptical look.

I had to think fast on this one. Even I didn't have complete faith in our not yet created plan. That didn't mean I had to tell him that though. It wouldn't technically be lying if it all came to be true.

"I know that sounds iffy, but have a little bit of faith."

I resisted the sudden urge to pat him on the head.

"We have a solid plan and once we enact it everything will go back to normal. The whole village eventually will be convinced of the truth. I promise."

Eventually Jun nodded.

"Okay. I guess I'll trust you."

I let out an internal sigh of relief.

"But I want to help."

That doesn't really seem like all that good of an idea…

"I don't know... I'd have to run it over with my friend first. We sort of already have things figured out."

He crossed his arms.

"She's _my_ aunt."

"I know, but-"

"Let me help!"

We both look part in a several seconds long staring contest before I eventually caved in. He was right. This was his family, not mine. He probably had the best reason out of all of us to be concerned.

I slowly nodded, watching as his eyes lit up.

"Alright, but give us some time to figure out what your part will be first, okay?"

I took out a piece of paper and quickly scribbled down my address.

"I don't know if your parents-"

I pretended not to notice his sudden loss of eye contact.

"-or guardians or whoever are okay with you visiting random people's houses late in the evening, but if you could come over at about seven that should work."

He eagerly answered, barely letting me finish my sentence.

"My sister doesn't care. I can come."

I tried not to frown. I didn't like how he said that so quickly. And his wording. Something was seriously off. I needed to ask him about it more later or do some investigating on my own. I didn't want to jump to conclusions, but-

Trying my best to temporarily push those thoughts away, I put on a bright smile.

"Then welcome to Operation Wedding Crashers. The plan shall soon commence."

…

After the last class of the day ended, everyone including myself immediately started scrambling for the door. When I first started attending, I received lots of stares or was mistaken for some sort of teachers assistant almost on a daily basis. There were a few awkward explanations I had to give to confused teachers and parents. At least it gave me a chance to streamline my answers.

I headed out the front door, towering over the kids who were rushing past me.

Personally, I still couldn't get over the fact that I was basically going to Elementary School again. Plus with my acceptance here as basically an adult, I probably set a new standard for who exactly could get in to the academy. A much lower one.

Walking the path that lead from the front door to the street, I passed by some of the parents who were waiting up front to pick up their children for the day.

Being picked up by your parents instead of taking the bus home-

That reminded me of when I when I was younger and went to a private school with my sister. I never really told many people that about me, seeing how most people automatically jump to conclusions. Those conclusions mostly being that I was a spoiled rich brat with money to burn. Those stereotypes made me want to either punch someone or roll my eyes.

Not only rich people send their kids to private schools. Not that telling certain people that would appease them very much.

In addition to that, I'd have to answer the question of why I was attending a public school now instead. The quickest way to end that conversation was to just say 'the recession' and leave it at that. Most people could make their own conclusions without me having to reveal any actual details.

Some things about myself I don't want to just go out and shout to the heavens, not that I had some deep dark secret or traumatic angst ridden past or anything.

I doubt anyone would have really cared anyway. I'm not a very exciting person.

I quickly shook my head and continued on. No use thinking about the past. Getting myself worked up over nothing wouldn't accomplish anything. There were people out there with real problems unlike my own.

Taking a deep breath, I turned to corner and started heading to my apartment. I cut through some side streets and quickly spotted the familiar building in the distance. It was weird how quickly I could get used to living like this.

Soon enough I was climbing up the stairs and walking to my door, the one Maya was leaning with her arms crossed on the wall next to. I was honestly a bit surprised she remembered what time the academy got out at still. Then again, years of doing the exactly same thing day after day does stick in your mind.

"Mako-chan! It's good to see you again!"

I waved, trying my best to smile back convincingly.

"Yeah, you too. Though it has only been a day."

She laughed lightly in response.

"True!"

I wasn't really in the mood for a long string of fake banter right now, so as quickly as I could I went over to my door and unlocked it, both of it going through before I turned around and locked it behind us. Then magically all pretenses were dropped, Maya's expression changing to its normal stoic look.

"Here. This was taped to your door."

Maya shoved a piece of paper in my hands, one I could barely decipher but knew well enough that it was a bill. At the very bottom along with a very large number was a date circled in bright red. A date _after _I got my next monthly allowance. I wanted to cry for joy.

It looks like I'm saved after all!

"I can't believe you actually got out of that. Though they did leave you a pretty severe warning if you don't pay up in time of your extension."

I looked up from the page in my hands to find Maya sitting at her previous spot on top of the table. She looked ready to get down to business. Next to her was a large wooden box with a floral pattern carved on the outside. I was admittedly pretty curious and wanted to ask right away, but they mewing from Tora as she scampered up to me and started rubbing up against my leg changed my mind.

I leaned over to pet her and started stroking her head as I eyed the almost empty food bowl in the corner.

"Before we start, I need to take care or Tora. Feel free to help yourself to something to eat or drink while I'm busy."

Maya shook her head,

"I'm fine, but thanks."

After hearing that quick rejection I quickly scurried around the apartment to take care of things. The foot tapping I could hear from outside my bedroom soon doubled my efforts. Before I knew it, I was sitting down on my couch with Tora on my lap.

I tried to ignore that fact that Maya was glaring daggers at the cat, slowly bringing up my hands around her to hold her closer in a protective shield. It was like she has some kind of personal vendetta against my cat. I guess she actually did in a way…

Attempting to clear my throat with no hands, which is actually harder to make look natural than you might think, I started the decision we were gathered here today for.

"So Maya, what's the plan?"

She broke eye contact with Tora, and exchanged it for me instead. She sighed, reaching for the box and then carefully tossing it underhand at me. Surprised by the sudden action, I caught it in the air before it could hit Tora. It still scared her enough though to leap off my lap and run for under the bed.

I help the box in my arm, taking a good look at all of the detail in the light wood and artfully carved pattern that looked quite a lot like cherry blossoms.

"What's this?"

"Something I'm going to lend to you. I assumed you wouldn't have one."

"And that is?"

"You'll see."

Why couldn't she just come out and say it bluntly without having to add dramatic build up?

Carefully I lifted up the lid to reveal bright pink fabric inside. I don't really like pink. Purple, heck yes, but pink is a different matter entirely. Frowning, I moved the lid off to the side; I lifted whatever it was out of the box to reveal white and darker pink flowers it was adorned with.

"Is this a kimono?"

Maya nodded, seeming a bit… excited about it?

"Yes, I have an extra so I thought you might want to borrow it. Though the wedding is more western style the dress code is not. At least for the guests."

I _was_ a bit excited about wearing a kimono. But _pink_. I'll just have to take one for the team. And now that takes one item off the 'to do' list.

"Thanks! This is a huge relief for me. I wasn't sure what to do about attire."

"Sure. I bought this on a recent mission of mine. They're pretty expensive. Most people rent for special occasions. Having your own is nice though."

I think I may have stumbled upon something Maya legitimately likes.

"But if you damage this-"

Her eyes narrowed; a wave of what I guessed to be killing intent wash over me.

"I'll murder you and incinerate your body to get rid of the evidence before the ANBU even know what hit them."

I gulped, gently putting the kimono back in its box. I wasn't sure how serious she actually was, but I wasn't going to take any chances on that.

"I'll…I'll take that to heart."

She relaxed again, looking quite pleased.

"Good."

Yeah. _Great._

"So anyway,"

My less than subtle attempt at changing the subject.

"Back to the plan."

Maya straightened up a bit, looking like she was ready for a serious discussion.

"I thought this over quite a lot yesterday after I left and have been working on this morning also. As long as everything goes smoothly without too many unexpected variables popping up we should be able to pull this thing off."

Alright. We were finally getting down to business.

Taking a deep breath, she started to explain.

"So the two of us-"

"Three actually."

She glared at me.

"What do you mean three? We're the only ones in on this."

Now having to explain, I was suddenly feeling a bit of regret for allowing Jun to join.

Sheepishly, I began to talk.

"Well there's someone else of believes us about the Kakashi Anko thing. "

All I received back was a skeptical look.

"He's Anko's nephew and-"

"Why didn't you say anything before?!"

Suddenly Maya was up on the edge of her seat- er table, giving me a very intense stare.

"W-Well he just joined us today. I didn't think he'd be able to help us much before."

Now she was starting to look pretty angry.

"Well, why _not?_ If her one of own family member says it's not true, then that would solve the whole problem to begin with!"

She looked right about to snap.

"Do you actually want to fix things or just mess around like you did to put us here in the first place? Are you even trying to help me or are you just tagging along to make yourself feel better!?"

That felt like a sudden slap to the face. I guess even if you suddenly declare friendship, it doesn't mean that the other party will instantly trust your decisions and motives.

I sunk deeper into the couch as far as I could go, looking down at the upholstery.

"He's ten years old and I know him from my class at the academy."

And then suddenly there was dead silence.

"Oh."

I started to nervously pick at the fabric, not chancing to look back at her face.

"Yeah. I wasn't really sure about it, but he pleaded with me. He's pretty upset about all of this and he's relying on us, or I guess more me to make all of the rumors go away. What kind of person would I be if I just let him down like that?"

I took a deep breath before I spoke again.

"This is personal for him so I couldn't say no. For him this isn't about plot or keeping things cannon. It's about his family and he seems to really care about them- or at least certain family members anyway."

Now I felt like I was pleading.

"We don't even need to give him a big job. Just something to make him feel like he's a part of the plan and is helping us out. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time, though I apologize if it screws up your plan."

There was another long silence before Maya spoke again.

"I'm sorry."

Now that surprised me.

I looked up, muscles stiff, and feeling a bit shocked. I apologize to other people. Other people don't apologize to me. That just seems to be the way the world works.

She looked… dazed almost, eyes not meeting mine head on. Like she had surprised even herself. Or maybe just stunned from how surprising my apparent reveal was.

"I shouldn't have assumed- "

It looked like she was searching hard for the right words.

"Can we just pretend I never said anything?"

Honestly, once the shock wore off I started feeling some underlying fury. She actually thought I would purposely withhold information just to screw with her and hurt our chances! Maybe she didn't know me all that well, and I may have given her a certain impression, but I felt insulted.

I couldn't really bring myself to pretend to smile right then.

"Sure. There's more important stuff to talking about anyway."

Just give me a couple of minutes to brush things off, pretend it's not a big deal to me, and I'd be fine. That trick had always worked for me before. If you can convince yourself of something well enough, you might even start to really believe it.

"I told Jun to come here by seven, so it's probably important that we both know the plan by then. I'm excited to hear it."

My tone at the moment didn't really reflect that. I needed to suck it up and get in the game. No time to sit here and complain about how people have wronged me.

Maya was still giving me an odd look, one I didn't really know how to decipher. Eventually she shook her head and started to speak.

"Alright. So this is what we're going to do."

* * *

><p>AN:Of course I'm not going to sit there and write out the details of the plan. XD You'll just have to wait until next chapter to see what happens.<p>

This chapter was a bit of a struggle to write for me, especially with the argument at the end. I just decided to keep it and if it really bugs me maybe change it later. Next time we finally have the wedding (arc?) conclusion! :D


	48. Forever Holding Your Peace

An: Hello, everyone! I apologize for the crazy long wait. I can honestly say though that this is the hardest chapter I've had to write for the entire story so far. The final word count is about 10,000 words, meaning that literally 1/10 of the entire word count of this fic is just from this chapter alone. I saw no way of splitting it up, so I hope the long chapter at least that makes the wait a little better...? ^^;

I realized that the one year anniversary of this fic passed back in January, which for me feels pretty crazy. A ton has happened to me in just this last year, so it's weird to think back to what I was doing around that time.

Well anyway, thanks for all of the support and I hope you enjoy! ^^

* * *

><p>I made a few last minute adjustments to the sky blue obi around my waist, trying to stop my hands from shaking in the process. My nerves wouldn't allow me to choke down any ramen earlier that morning, and once I'd put on the entire ensemble, the thought of getting this thing dirty by eating was a pretty good deterrent.<p>

The elderly woman patted down my sleeves once more, making sure everything was in its proper place.

"There dear, it looks lovely on you."

Her name was Fumiko Abe and she was an older woman who lived in the same building as me. She had smoky gray hair that was pulled back into a tight bun and was wearing casual navy blue kimono that covered her thin frame. Though her face was full of wrinkles from age, you could tell from her vibrant blue eyes that she was still full of life.

I tried not to let my face flush at the sudden compliment.

"Oh, um-"

"Here, wait just a moment."

She suddenly left the room in a lightning fast motion, zipping off to the location of what I assumed to be her bedroom is this apartment's layout was anything like my own.

Now I was left standing in the apartment's living room, well kept knickknacks lining the shelves and ornate kanji brushed onto scrolls hung up along the walls around me. A love seat and comfy looking old chair were placed to one side, an old wooden coffee table stuffed in between them. On the surface the space looked exactly like my own, same floor plan, same size, but it was clearly more lived in and loved than mine place. It had really nice homey feel to it, the walls carefully painted a pearl blue color that perfectly done so not a single drop landed on the wooden baseboards.

There was the sudden sound of a rustling newspaper from the other side of the room where the kitchen was located.

"She was quite thrilled that you came to ask her for help."

I turned to face Tadashi-san, the husband of the older woman. Tadashi was a thin man much like his wife, balding grey hair on top of his head with genuinely kind face attached. His attire was that of a dark grey yukata that had seemed to be pretty casually thrown on, geta on his feet. He was sitting at the kitchen table with tea in one hand and the newspaper in the other, his rounded glasses propped up on the tip of his nose.

I sheepishly shuffled my feet a bit.

"Really?"

He nodded slowly, flipping to another page with a sparkle in his eyes as he turned to look at me directly.

"It's not often these days that young people take the time to visit with their elderly neighbors. Though I must admit, I was quite happy as well to see that we were finally able to find a new home for those old floor cushions of ours some time ago."

I see that this whole "getting free stuff" thing goes both ways…

Quickly I waved off his thanks.

"It's no problem-"

"Here it is!"

Fumiko-san walked back into the living room, a small wooden box in hand with an ornate metal clasp on the front. I ran my eyes over the object, trying my best to guess what exactly was inside.

After a good five seconds I caved.

"What is it?"

With a genuine smile on her face, she quickly flipped opened up the latch, revealing the contents inside. It was a well crafted pink flower hair piece that had three petal strands hanging down off of it, bells attached at the end. My first impression of this thing was that it had to be an incredibly valuable piece. With so much ornate detail, there was no way it couldn't be.

"It's a kanzashi that's been in my family for a long time now. I'd love for someone to have it."

She let out a light chuckle.

"In my old age I doubt that I'll be wearing it any time soon."

It was safe to say I was feeling a little bit stunned here. She was just giving something like this away…?

"But don't you have a daughter?"

She just brushed off my question with a wave of the hand.

"Sayuri has never been the type to dress up much. One of those ninja traits I'm sure."

Yeah, sure. Tell that to Ino and Sakura.

Fumiko let out another light laugh.

"And I doubt my grandson will have much use for it either."

I reached forward, but just as my hand was hovering above it, I hesitated.

"But like you said, it's something that's been passed down in your family. I'm just a neighbor. You should keep for someone else. "

"Nonsense. You're such a nice girl and I don't recall you ever mentioning your family before. I know you live in that apartment of yours all by yourself. It's our job as old folks to help the young carry on our traditions."

She tried to give me a reassuring smile.

"Maybe you could give it to your own daughter some day."

That's when I froze, immediately backtracking.

I couldn't accept this. Maybe I was stuck here now, but eventually I was going to wake up, head home, or whatever else you wanted to call it. Her gift was just wasted on me.

Tadashi called over from the table, his eyes back on the newspaper but a smile forming on the edges of his mouth.

"Just accept it Mako-chan. I doubt she'll take no for an answer."

If I refused I'd probably seriously offend them, wouldn't I? They were just trying to be nice to me. It wasn't my place to turn down such a kind offer even if my reasons were legitimate.

Nodding robotically, I picked up the delicate object, returning her kindness with a plastered on smile.

"Well, um. Thank you Fumiko-san."

Her eyes immediately lit up, suddenly reaching out to take it from my loose grasp.

"Here dear, let me help you put it on. I believe you told me you needed to get going in a couple of minutes."

As she took the hair piece out of my hands and started to put it on with pins, my eyes flicked over to the clock that rested near the stove in the kitchen. The official starting time wasn't for about a half an hour, but it was critical to the plan that I got there early.

"Now who is this again that is getting married? I might know them or someone else who does."

I sheepishly began tugging at the ends of the sleeves until she batted my hands away from the fabric.

"Well…" I started before coming up with an excuse.

"It's pretty under wraps right now, but I guarantee that you'll hear all about it tomorrow."

She gave me a curious look and I tried not to squirm under her gaze.

"I suppose so. Would you be a dear and try not to move so much?"

…

Standing outside of the building that was actually secret location of the wedding, my nerves officially started to kick in. This was all finally real.

I took in one last shaky breath before I knew I had to dig up the courage to go inside.

Because at this point there was a big chance we could fail. If something didn't go to plan, if we guessed wrong-

I shook my head to clear away those negative thoughts.

Honestly, I wasn't very happy with the plan that Maya and I had come up with in the end. We had gotten into another argument over it, and at that point I was sick of the constant tension and caved in the end. I didn't have much of a choice but to accept it.

Remembering the side door from the first time I had been brought here (great memories), I entered the cold damp alleyway, made my way past some old broken crates that lined the walls, and then maneuvered around the flowing cans of garbage that were clumped together in the small space. The smell of decomposing rot wafted through the air and hit my nose at full force. If I didn't know better, I would have never guessed that this was the location of a wedding. I don't think this was a place where _anyone_ would want to have their wedding at, secret or not. I wondered how much the interior had changed since I saw it as a work in progress.

After finally moving my away around, making sure nothing got on my kimono in the process, I finally found the door. I knocked ten times in the really-frustrating-to-learn secret pattern that was shown to me when I was handed my invite. I had to thank Maya once again, seeing as I forgot it almost immediately after seeing it demonstrated to me for the one and only time. Whose memory is _that_ good anyway?

Ninjas, man…

The door slowly creaked open inwardly, a pair of brown eyes poking out from the small slit that fell back into darkness. The voice was masculine and grainy, not to mention had threatening edge to it. So in other words, grade 'A' ninja material.

"What's your business here?"

Flinching at his tone, I scrambled to dig out the small scroll from inside my sleeves, shoving it through the slight gap as quickly as I could. The item was grabbed and jerked away from my hand as the eyes quickly retreated. I listened to the quiet rustling of paper on the other side, my nerves starting to fray the longer the wait dragged on.

Resisting the erg to tap my foot impatiently as I stood silently on the other side of the door, it was eventually pushed open half way, revealing a nondescript brown haired ninja wearing casual clothing on the other side. His eyes darted to the area behind me, quickly pulling me inside and closing the door behind us. The lights were extremely dim, only emitting a soft yellow glow from where they were hanging from the low ceiling above us.

Once the lock on the door was clicked shut, he leaned back on his place on the wall.

"Down the hallway to your right and then take door in on the left."

I gave him a quick nod before scrambling in said direction. It was pretty cramped in these side hallways, most likely where the small storage closets and offices were located.

I had never really put much thought into it before, but who exactly was going to be on this guest list anyway? Maya and I had made some speculations and Jun had put in his own two senses, but it was pretty much pure guess work at this point. Judging from Kakashi and Anko's _unique_ personalities, it was pretty much guaranteed to be a small affair. We were going to have to heavily rely on word of mouth to get the information we needed to spread. But because of that this would be a whole lot less nerve racking to pull off.

I pretty quickly found the correct door, slowly turning the handle in a mix of dread and apprehension.

I knew Kakashi was acquainted with some of the other Jonin and that Anko was part of the interrogation force, but were they really acquainted enough with their co-workers to have them be chosen to be invited their wedding? I laughed a little bit to myself. I'm sure Sakura and co. wouldn't have just invited a bunch of people who barely knew them to one of their most special days of their lives.

Pushing the door open, I peered out into the space.

Yeah, they invited a bunch of people who barely knew them to one of their most special days of their lives. Maybe I should have been more shocked, but at this point it's become very clear to me that I can't have nice things.

The room was filled to the brim with people to the point that it was getting hard to see the decorations and chairs that took up the most of space. Colorful cloth was draped through the high rafters, vases and bouquets of pink, red, and white flowers in every direction you looked. A slightly raised wooden platform was built at the back the building, with rows upon rows of white fold out chairs seated facing it with an aisle of white cloth down the center leading up to it. There had to in the very least be enough for a hundred. At the technical front of the building with the large doors closed up and nothing currently blocking them, sat a sprawling buffet of Japanese cuisines.

My stomach started to growl at the thought of eating literally anything other than ramen.

Stepping inside, I took the chance to really look around. Just initially scanning the crowd, it was safe to say that most of these people I'd never seen before in my life. Others though were clearly part of the main cast, seeing as how they stuck out to me like a sore thumb. There was a mix of casual wear and traditional, making feel like grumbling since apparently dressing up for this thing was optional.

Walking deeper into the space, I couldn't help but look around with a bit of awe. There had to be a sizable chunk of the shinobi workforce stuffed into this room alone. Slowly my long term suspicions started to become confirmed. There was literally nothing of real importance going on during the time skip years. The lack of real events or battles must have led to the levels or boredom growing sky high. An invite to this thing could be the first exciting thing to happen to some of these people in months.

Suddenly Tsunade's decision to try and do something to increase moral felt it bit more understandable. I couldn't agree with how she decided to go about it, but I suppose I could sympathize her plight. Living in a militaristic society wasn't exactly one of the most fun or relaxing places to be. Maybe I should suggest having some sort of Ninja Olympics or something. Or instead of Eurovision, have Ninjavision. Hmm. For building international relations without death involved, that wasn't actually too bad of an idea…

Without Naruto, the Naruto world felt a whole lot more boring.

Scanning as I walked through the crowd, I got sight of some of the more notable people in attendance. Daichi was standing alone near the front, a drink in his hand as he hovered by the refreshments table. Father down the line, near the food itself, unsurprisingly were the dressed up Choji and Shikamaru, Skimaru leaning against the wall while his friend pigged out next to him.

I felt the stabbing sense on envy.

Hanging out in a crowd near the opposite side wall from where I came in were the trio of Gai, Kurenai, and Asuna. Gai looked like he was- crying tears of joy? While Kurenai patted him awkwardly on the shoulder and Asuma just stood there watching.

Making my way past some hordes that had assembled, I decided to take a chance to scope out a good seat for the ceremony.

Near the back of the rows of chairs on the right side of the isle, sitting down next to Lee a couple rows from the back was Neiji. His arms were crossed, looking less than thrilled to be there while a dressed up Lee with green sleeves poking out from underneath from his green kimono chatted away at him.

In the other side of the isle and sitting right in the front row, I spotted Masuyo-sensei and Jun along with several other similar looking people. There was a young woman who looked to be about in her twenties who had dark brown hair and brown eyes that was pulled back into a pony tail. She was wearing a kimono as well, a girl who seemed to be about five years old give or take, sitting on the chair to her right. Down the row was another girl who seemed to be about Jun's age next to Jun himself, and then two older boys who looked like they were in their teens.

Back on the other side of the isle, right in the other front row sat Tsunade. Ton Ton was being held on her lap and she sat there stroking her, dare I say, _maniacally. _Just add in some evil laughter and it would all fit into the moment. Shizune sat to her left, talking about something or another.

I did a quick three-sixty check around the room, trying to spot any more familiar people past the towering bodies blocking my direct sight.

There was a sudden tap on my shoulder. I couldn't help but spring into a defensive position before spinning back around. Masuyo-sensei has taught me… well? Sure. Let's go with that.

The trio of Ino, Hinata, and Maya were now standing there in front of me, Ino leading the small group. She was wearing a flowery purple kimono with a pink obi, her long hair placed into a bun, Maya wearing a light pink of her own, and Hinata in the back wearing one that was sky blue.

"Mako-chan, I'm happy you came! Sakura wasn't sure if you would show!"

I gave her a sheepish smile.

"I got the strong feeling that today would be one of those days I couldn't afford to miss."

"I'm glad! Sakura-chan should be here soon. We should plan a trip to go to some hot springs or something again, obviously no bathhouses. It's just been so long since we've all tried to hang out together!"

Oh god no. Bathhouses and hot springs present the exact same issue. And why in the world are those considered legitimate social activities?!

"That's nice of you to offer, but…"

My eyes flickered over to Maya who was just standing there smiling and nodding with Ino in agreement.

Gee, thanks for backing me up here.

"Wouldn't it be more fun to go shopping instead?"

She took a moment to consider it, hand resting on her chin in thought.

"Yeah, that could be fun too! There's this great little shop that opened recently. What do you think Hinata-chan?"

Meekly, she replied with I could detect as real enthusiasm.

"I-I think that would be nice. We should ask Sakura-san what she thinks when she arrives."

Where was she anyway?

As then went on to converse some more, I subtly stepped a bit to the off side, now finding myself face to face with Maya. There was a very important reason I had to be here early after all. Some crucial information that had to be passed to make sure that the plan was still a go.

With a bright smile she recited the key code phrase.

"Mako-chan, that kimono looks great on you!"

I couldn't help but gape.

That code phrase meant that she had been successful in persuading Kakashi to knowingly show up to his wedding. We agreed that the only way to get him to stay once he saw the "surprise" in store for him was to try and reason with Kakashi beforehand. Somehow she had to make him believe that we'd be able to successfully stop the rumors about him and Anko if he came.

And for my shock, I honestly didn't think it would work. As far as I remembered, Kakashi and Tenten had never even really exchanged words before. I didn't think he'd be swayed by a civilian with a master plan though, so "Tenten" was up to bat. Still, I didn't think that she'd have the negotiating skills to pull it off. And maybe there was a part of me that was desperately clinging on to the hope that I wouldn't have to get up in front of a ton of people and make an idiot out of myself after all.

Not that I actually told her that.

"W-What? Seriously?"

Her bright smile turned into a bit of a frown.

"Why are you surprised?"

Ino took that moment to jump from her conversation over to ours, worry written all over her face.

"Mako-chan, don't say that! You look really nice!"

Huh?

"What?"

She sympathetically patted me on the shoulder.

"Your self-esteem is way too low! That's not healthy! I think this shopping trip will be good for all of us!"

She _thought…?_

Oh.

"Well actually-"

"It'll be great! You'll see!"

"But-"

"You know, I think red might be your color. We should look for a new outfit for you in it!"

Reasoning with her right now just didn't feel worth the effort.

"I can't wait."

"That's the spirit!"

We stood around talking a bit longer about nothing of real importance, though I did find out that Shino and Kiba were off on a mission somewhere and had to miss the special day. As the people around us started to find their seats, our little group did as well.

Finding a perfect seat in one of the last rows, I plopped down on a chair right next to the isle, Maya sitting to my left and then rest sat down in the order of Ino, Hinata, and then an empty chair they were saving for whenever Sakura showed up.

Now that I was stationary, I couldn't help but let my twitchy habits crawl back up to the surface. My fingers kept picking at my sleeve's hems or trying to resist the temptation of moving around the kanzashi in my hair. I swore I could hear my heart beat getting louder and louder the longer I sat there, any attempts to just ignore the sound rendered pointless.

I wanted to just get thing over and done with. There were so many people here, and they'd all be witnesses to what was going to down here in a couple of minutes.

My stomach took a quick dive.

I'd never been afraid of public speaking per say, or even technically what you'd call shy, but every time I had to get up to speak, my paranoia took over of what other people would think of me. I was always tempted to add my own personal comments to the presentation or maybe try for some humor, but in the end I never did.

It was better to just make it bland, boring and forgettable. They could just forget the project and me.

I liked that much better than what I saw as the alternative.

"-I thought about having the flowers be something that looked in red, but in the end a bouquet of several different types and colors looked the best."

Ino was pointing at a large arrangement to the left of the stage.

Hinata quietly responded with gusto.

"I-It looks very nice Ino-san!"

"Well, of course!"

The last few people trickled to their seats, and I out of the corner of my eye caught the sight of some older gentleman who had his face half covered in bandages and an 'x' shaped scar on his chin, a cane loudly tapping next to me against the wooden floor. Considering the apparent lifespan of your average ninja, he had to be one of the oldest people here. Probably just some sort of father figure to Kakashi or Anko or something.

Behind me there was a sudden loud creak the echoed throughout the room as giant doors were swung open.

A sudden hush fell over the crowd and the last few stragglers scrambled to their seats, I along with everyone else turning round to see Kakashi standing at the open doorway, Sakura a little ways behind him and wearing her usual getup.

Though it was hard to tell from such a distance away, I could swear Kakashi's single eye was a bit wider than normal. We _had_ warned him, though now I was starting to question what Maya had said to him exactly…

Sakura nudged Kakashi forward in the form of pushing him from behind over the threshold, causing him to rigidly taking a couple of steps forward.

I took the chance to turn back around and look at some of crowd's expressions. There were smiles, others looking pretty complacent about the whole thing, several women in their early to late twenties crying-

Hold on a sec.

How many people had a crush on this guy exactly? I mean, he _is _my favorite character, not to mention there's a crazy amount of fanart of him online, but _still_. I always thought Sasuke was the only one who was known for having fan girls. I suppose that whole 'betraying your village and attempting to murder your teammate' thing is quite the turn-off.

To almost everybody anyway.

I turned back around to see a still stunned looking Kakashi slowly trudged down aisle, the audience watching his every step. Once he finally reached the point where the rows of chairs began, he seemed to finally snap out of his trance, falling back into his normal state nonchalance as he casually walked the rest of the way up the aisle.

At some point another man walked up on the raised platform, a gruff older man with short graying hair and wearing some sort of traditional clothes. In his arms was a decorative tray several with small cups laid out on top of it.

He made a point of clearing his throat.

"Welcome all to this very special occasion. We are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of Hatake Kakashi and Mitarashi Anko. Their love is an inspiration to us all, young and old."

I couldn't help it. The chance was too good.

I let out a sudden bout of coughing that echoed throughout the quiet room. Several people turned around in their seats to stare and watch me hack up a lung in the middle of the ceremony. With all eyes on me, I could help but falter and let the coughs fade off just as quickly as they began.

The priest shot me what seemed to be the beginnings of a glare. He quickly continued on with his spiel.

"-And let us bring in the bride."

There were the loud sounds of the door being opened once again, this time Anko being the one to walk her way through.

She was wearing a snow white kimono with a long train that flowed behind her as she walked, some kind of cross necklace with rings around it hanging from her neck. Her spiky hair was neatly styled into a bun, a white and red flowery kanzashi in her hair.

With all of the confidence in the world, she started- for a lack of a better word- _strutting _down the aisle like it was her own personal catwalk.

As Anko continued forward towards the platform you could hear the soft crying of a child up at the far left of the seating area. There were a couple of quiet murmurings around me, and as Anko got closer, the crying got louder until it was a full beak down that echoed throughout the room. You could hear some on what being said between the hiccups and tears.

"You- You can't get married Aunt Anko! I-I know you don't- really love him!"

I had to resist the huge urge to fist pump the air.

Nice job Jun! I wanted to go over there and high-five him for the crazy good acting he was pulling off. He even memorized the lines perfectly.

I noticed people around me start exchanging confused glances, Ino, Hinata and Sakura, who had just joined us, especially.

"You-You can't do this to us! I thought- I thought you loved us!"

I had to repress the giant smirk that threatened to take over my face.

People were confused and questioning. The plan was moving along perfectly.

Anko finally reached the stage, her walking pace suddenly getting much quicker as the crying dragged on. Once she stepped up on the platform it looked like she was trying to smile, but her eyes kept flickering off to Jun's direction, the corners of her mouth starting to twitch a bit. Kakashi stood on the right side of the stage with his hands shoved in his pockets, Anko on the left and the priest standing back a ways in between them.

Suddenly the crying was cut off of with a muffle, no doubt caused but someone shoving their hand over his mouth as everyone sat there awkwardly waiting for the ceremony to continue.

From what I had learned about the order of the wedding, it was almost my turn. Nausea and shakes hit me with full force.

The priest started talking once again.

"We will begin with the ceremonial drinking of Sake to symbolize the union of not only two people, but two families."

Kakashi reached forward first, taking a sip from each small cup and then placing them back on the tray. Anko then followed suit.

"Now it is time for the reading of the commitments before the exchange of the rings."

That was my cue and there was no turning back now.

It was all a dream, just a coma induced nightmare that was only happening in my head. I made it through interrogation with Ibiki based on that belief so I could do it now too. Heck, I was easily able to brush off my near death scenario because of that.

My muscles tensed as I dug up the courage to make my move, an ocean of uncertainties hovering over me.

It was now or never.

I jumped up from up from my seat, whipping my arm forward and pointing at the "couple" up front with all of the intensity I could muster. I started to shout at the top of my lungs.

"_Hold it!"_

All eyes were on me now. I stepped out into the aisle, trying not to let my legs shake at every small movement.

"You shall _not_ getmarried!"

You know what, if I was going to have to do this I might as well ham up the moment and milk this thing for all that it was worth.

The priest went speechless, his mouth trying and failing to form words. Anko raised an eyebrow and Kakashi just stood there watching silently. Now was my chance. While the vast majority was still stunned, I had to make my move. The fact that the audience seemed to almost completely be made up of ninja who could take me down at any time was a bit… intimidating.

I started to move forward, a fake confidence being injected into my stride. Just as I was about to make some progress towards the stage, someone grabbed my arm and halting me in place.

I turned around to see "Tenten", staring wide eyed in confusion, the others of the small friend group mirroring the look. The other the other guests watched and listened attentively she frantically whispered to me, thought in this setting the "whisper "could be heard well by all.

"What are you doing?! It's the middle of the wedding!"

I unleashed a furious glare, slapping her hand away.

"Release me you heathen!"

Once her fingers relaxed a bit I threw off her grip, moving on forward in my stride. Ino then leaped up from her seat, wrinkles creasing her forehead.

"You can't just do this!"

Ignoring her protests moved on up the aisle, I decided to spew off one of my favorite and previously useless quotes.

"Screw the rules, I have green hair!"

"What? That makes no sense!"

I picked up the pace, trying not to look at the heads that were turning as I walked. Finally reaching the platform, I turned around at the base to face my very attentive audience for the evening. I spread my arm out wide for emphasis.

"There's a very good reason you all should not believe a single thing happening here today! This whole thing is a sham!"

There were murmurings coming from the crowd as people exchanging glances. I tried not to zone in on the faces of the people I knew. It would just make it harder.

I took a step up onto the stage behind me, still facing the front. Now I was probably blocking the view of the priest somewhat, Kakashi and Anko easily seen on my peripherals.

Kakashi was looking right at me. Waiting. In this moment I was his saving grace.

My throat felt mysteriously dry.

"And that's because…"

I faltered, the words caught in my throat.

My eye flickered over to Tsunade. She was looking right back at me with an unreadable expression. No remorse, no regret, no fear, no pleasure. It was just a blank slate.

Shizune on the other hand seemed a bit frantic, eyes darting between us.

I knew the line I had to say. I'd practiced saying it what felt like a thousand times in the comfort of my apartment, in front of a small audience of two.

"Because…"

I just had to say those seven words. Then all of this would be over. People would be too preoccupied with this new juicy information to care enough about my antics here today.

"Kakashi…"

Because Kakashi is actually secretly dating Iruka.

My throat clenched up.

I couldn't.

I just _couldn't_.

In theory Maya's idea wasn't a bad one. Surely it would make people second guess his apparent love for Anko. And with the amount of Naruto fans that shipped Iruka and Kakashi, it had to be at least somewhat believable pairing. The hope was that people wouldn't know what to think anymore and this whole rumor deal would all just fizzle out of existence.

But in the end, couldn't it just make things even worse? The best case scenario might happen, but what if it didn't?

It would just be trading one lie for another and dragging Iruka along the way with it. It wasn't fair; it wasn't right.

I couldn't do it.

I liked to believe I was raised better than that. My parents would probably be ashamed of me if that's how I chose to act. I'd been acting terribly a lot recently, acting like some sort of slap happy moron.

And with manipulating people like this, would I really be any better than Tsunade? Maya, she'd been here a long time. Forced to learn a new language, adapt to a new culture, and get new values constantly shoved in her face. All while knowing the future and what was waiting for all of the people knew and cared about.

Maybe the potential collateral of this random blip on the timeline to her wasn't such a big deal as long as she got the desired results, but to me it mattered.

I tried to breathe deeply but I found myself struggling.

The crowd was still watching me as I just stood there in silence. They were waiting for me to complete my answer. The pause was starting to drag on for too long, and at this rate someone was bound to cut in.

I needed to think of something and quickly.

My options were extremely limited, that I already knew. I could try to convince people of the truth, not that that had worked all that great for me so far, or make up something else completely different right here on the spot.

So in conclusion I was totally screwed.

I know I'm an impulsive person, someone who doesn't always think the consequences through and pretty much always ends up hating themselves for it later. But on those rare occasions when it really counted, I could scheme with the best of them.

And right now, I really had to.

As my pulse started to pick up, I knew standing there quietly any longer just wouldn't fly. I had to say _something_.

"I can guarantee you it's all a lie because I'm the one who made it all up in the first place."

The commotion from the crowd suddenly became much louder, a multitude of poorly muffled whispers adding up to the beginnings out a loud commotion.

Maya have been pretty angry with me. I was supposed to say my line and then as a neutral third party she'd help sway public opinion by confirming it.

I continued, piling on the half-truths as I went.

"I thought- "

I thought it was true. I thought it was true because to me your world is just a story and I haven't read all that far yet.

"I thought it was funny."

That sent the volume from the audience skyrocketing.

"And things obviously escalated from there. Rumors went wild, the whole village started to believe it."

I was digging my own grave here; that was for sure. I was by my own hand making my own personal nightmare come true.

By the end of this everyone would hate me.

That's my nightmare, my fear, my worst case scenario. The possible reality that my paranoia feeds on, and when I let it, sends me to tears. I didn't want a million best friends, I just wanted to not be scorned or hated. Not to be told you're annoying or purposely ignored, friendless or a loser because of your dumb sense of humor or irritating personality.

I never wanted to experience something like that ever again. I made friends who liked me and didn't see me like that. They _wanted_ to be friends with me. They _liked_ me for who I was.

And there I went, believing it was all a dream and dropping the filter I used around the rest of the world. Sure I eventually picked it back up, but not before some damage could be done. I really was an idiot.

Was it a dream, was it not a dream? Maybe denial wasn't the answer, but I sure was good at it.

But in life there's a point where you have to choose. You can either do what's right or instead just protect yourself in a shell. And from what I've seen, those two things seem to rarely overlap.

I was finally broken out of my stupor by Anko of all people, meeting my declarations with annoyance.

"What are you trying to say? Of course this is real! Why else would I be here?"

I spun around, jabbing a finger in her face.

"Because there's a conspiracy going here and you're a part of it! Don't act like you don't know."

I swore I could hear a gasp or two coming from behind me.

She just raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"What a cute story."

My eyes darted over to Kakashi who was staring with a huge amount of intensity and then to Tsunade who looked the same as when I last checked.

I seriously doubted people would believe me if I said Tsunade took a part in this, not to mention most apparently didn't even trust Kakashi himself much on these issues. Even if that wasn't so, there was still the nail on the coffin that he actually willingly showed up here in the first place. And on time too.

I was still screwed.

However…

If there was one person here that was in on it and didn't have much of a stake in the endeavor, it would have to be Anko. She'd been out of the village until this point so I never had the chance to speak with her before things went down.

Great. Isn't she known to be sort of psychotic?

My gaze shifted over to Jun who was just staring from his front row seat with wide eyes. My stomach flipped. He really did care about her quite a lot. I promised him I'd be the magical cure that would solve all of this. I didn't want to ever have to break that.

My voice turned down to a harsh whisper meant only for the three people around me.

"What are you doing? Don't you care how upset you're making your nephew by lying?"

For the first time this evening her expression truly broke into a frown. Anko looked out into the crowd and for a moment I saw her eyes widen, that is until the sudden sound of a clearing throat interrupted.

"Are we going to continue on with the ceremony?"

It was the priest who was now stepping forwards from his position, giving us all an annoyed glare. I'm all for respecting the elderly, but now really wasn't the time. I shoved a hand in his face, causing him to startle backwards.

"Nope. It's been put on hold and pending cancellation. Anko, listen to me for a second."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Being a little casual there aren't we?"

I started to grit my teeth. It was _not_ the time to debate over honorifics. At this point I was finding them to be ridiculously annoying. Always having to calculate how well you knew each person and what to use, figuring out who exactly in what scenario would be called a sensei-

"Look."

I grabbed a quick glance of murmuring audience behind me. There seemed to be a lot of confusion radiating on in the crowd and many people were starting to look like they were getting antsy. There seemed to be a lot of… _something_ radiating from the back area where Sakura, Ino, Hinata, and Maya sat.

May seemed to be trying to catch my gaze, but I decided that for the moment it was probably better to just ignore it.

I took in a few shallow breaths.

"I don't know how Tsunade convinced you to take part in this, or why you even accepted in the first place, but you need to give it up."

The smirk returned.

"No can do kid. Do you know how much free dango I get out of doing this, not to mention the entertainment value? Things have been _way_ too boring around here recently."

Anko suddenly spoke out to the crowd, her voice cutting over all of the chatter.

"Just a few things to clear up to our _friend_ here, everyone! We'll get it all sorted out in just a moment!"

This seemed to calm the room down a bit, seeing as how volume dipped a couple of levels.

Kakashi stepped a little closer to us on the platform, body language exuding nonchalance. His eyes though told a completely different story.

"_This_ was the plan you along with Tenten came up with?"

He was not happy.

"No," I quickly hissed back. "But trust me. You'll like this improv of mine _much_ better. That _is_ unless you'd rather have people think you're in a secret relationship with Umino Iruka instead."

His one visible eye widened dramatically at my statement.

Anko suddenly burst out laughing, not bother to suppress the loud sound that echoed throughout the large room. I watched as several people from the audience give her incredulous looks, though interestingly enough her family members didn't seem to even flinch.

Kakashi kept staring.

"I carry around and read porn all day. That has _women _in it."

I just helplessly shrugged in response.

"Well, as I've learned pretty recently,"

Thanks Maya for clearing that one up for me by the way-

"People will literally pair _anything _up as a couple_,_ no matter how improvable the pairing may be."

Internally I cringed. If only I had known what was actually cannon first. With his apparent single status, at this rate Kakashi was going to be an eternal bachelor by the end of the series. Honestly, I wouldn't be all the surprised if that ended up being true.

The priest interrupted our chat once again, now looking pretty red in the face.

"Is this ceremony going to continue or not? I have to head to a small town to preside somewhere else very soon."

Kakashi quickly brushed him off.

"Just one moment please."

The man stepped back once again, looking pretty disgruntled as he did so.

I tugged at the sleeves of my kimono distractedly, finally noticing how badly my hands were still shaking.

My body seemed to know how much I dreaded the suspected answer to my next question.

"In both of your professional opinions, what's the chance that people would believe that Tsunade was actually behind all of this?"

Anko's remaining chuckling started to recede as she wiped a stray tear that has trailed down her face.

"Not likely. It's just all too ridiculous to think of happening. Unless the Hokage admits it herself."

That's what I thought. Saying the Hokage was behind as this was basically the equivalent of saying that the President of the US spends his free time shipping his employees and setting up their surprise wedding in his free time. Not only was that the stupidest conspiracy theory ever, but I think all parties could finally agree that would be a serious waste of our tax dollars.

Kakashi just gave a slight nod, Anko jumping in again.

"And I never said that _I_ was going to admit anything though."

Thanks a lot.

I already knew to answer to my next question, but I asked it anyway.

"But what if Kakashi just decided to run?"

Anko shrugged.

"It wouldn't really change anything. People would think we're still together in some way. The uninformed masses have quite the imagination. Plus, it's not like this marriage is even official. It's all a stunt without any of the necessary paperwork in sight."

My heart sank.

I needed to just kill this thing once and for all.

"Anko-san."

I knew my tone had changed to one of pleading and fast.

"Look, I'm begging you. When I address the crowd, I need you along with Kakashi-san to play along with what I'm going to say."

She gave me an incredulous look.

"And why would I do that?"

I tried to swallow despite my dry throat.

"I know I don't know you all that well as a person, just some things I've heard,"

Or read.

"But I do know someone who does. _Jun_."

I could see her body slightly stiffen.

"He really cares a lot about you. I think he might see you as some sort of mom or older sister."

"He…does?"

I nodded slowly, carefully choosing my next words.

"He really cares about what people think about you, even if you don't. Jun was even one of the people who wanted to help me stop this wedding in the first place. He was in on our plan."

That statement seemed to really shock her.

"-So then that crying?"

"Yes. So if anything, please do this for him. I know I can't exactly bribe you with any extra incentives, but _please_."

She was quiet for a long time, silently debating something with herself. The more time went on, the more the volume in the room picked up again. Whatever standstill we had going on here wasn't going to last much longer. The wedding guests were _ninja_. There were so many things that could go wrong and quickly.

Anko eventually broke out of her trance, giving her final verdict with a wave of the hand.

"Fine. I'll do it. For Jun."

It felt like burden was being lifted off of my shoulders. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Seriously, thank you."

She quickly dismissed words with another quick wave.

"Whatever."

Kakashi was still watching at me, seeming to silently size me up.

"What is it you plan to do?"

I took my own turn of brushing off people's words.

"Again, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for all of _this_ to happen."

He seemed to take my ignoring of his question in stride.

"Did you really just think that this was funny? Is that why?"

I shrugged, turning back around to face the audience.

"I really thought it was true."

"Why?"

I _so_ tempted to just tell him I heard it from another person as a rumor, but instead I just answered with an old cliché.

"It's a long story."

Before he could ask me something else, or before an audience member decided to get some bright ideas, I gathered everyone's attention.

"Okay people, listen up!"

All eyes were on me now. My legs started to shake violently.

Just a dream.

My voice came back stronger this time.

"You can all consider yourselves officially punk'd."

There was a dead silence throughout the room until one audience member cried out in confusion,

"Officially _what_?"

Arg. Stupid konoha people not understanding my lame cultural references…

"Tricked, okay?! _Tricked_! I've tricked all of you into thinking this event you were all gathered here today for was real! It thought it would be a hilarious scenario to see happen!"

Unsurprisingly, Sakura was the first to stand up. She looked to be in a state of shock and disbelief.

"There's no way that can be true! I'm the one who planned this wedding in the first place! I of all people would know!"

Not helping!

I squared my shoulders.

"It is. I even went to the official channels to get certain information spread even quicker."

There seemed to be some sort of realization dawn on Sakura as she turned to look over at Tsunade.

I quickly cleared my throat, drawing back up full attention.

"After the rumor started running wild I knew I had to get at least one of the involved parties on board."

Anko took that as her cue to step forward with a smile.

"What can I say? Seeing all of your faces was worth it."

Murmurs spread throughout the crowd.

I silently begged for people not to look too deeply into my claims. There had to be people here for sure that knew Anko had been out of the village for quite a while. I wouldn't have had the chance to speak to her in person. Besides that, there were definitely other holes to my story. I could only plug so many at the spur of the moment. For now though, all I needed to do was completely change people's minds.

No big deal.

"Kakashi here just got dragged along for the ride. I have all of you to thank for that. You wouldn't listen to him no matter what he said to the contrary."

The poor guy.

"And you even somehow got him to show up here, which I hadn't been counting on happening. None of this was supposed to get this far, but I rolled with it. But unfortunately,"

I took a long dramatic pause.

"The game is up. Even _I_ couldn't let this thing continue this far, so It was time to stage the reveal. Wouldn't want to leave people with the wrong impression."

Sakura protested, staring back with eye brows furrowed.

"-But! When I asked Kakashi-sensei to come here-"

She was suddenly interrupted by a tug on the arm by "Tenten", being urged to sit down.

Kakashi walked up closer to the stage, his hands in his pockets. His body language gave off a sense of exhaustion.

"It's true. I've never been in a relationship with Mitarashi Anko, contrary to popular opinion. The choice to come here today wasn't truly my own."

More murmurs surged throughout the crowd as people soaked this new information in. It seemed no one really knew what to do. Tsunade remained in her chair, watching me from the short distance away. She could just admit the truth herself, but it didn't look like she was inclined to do that at all. She wasn't corroborating my story of denying it. Just watching the events play out.

There was still a bit of anger I had towards her for doing all of this, but at the same time, I was just tired. I just wanted this to be over, to have some sort of verdict. This whole thing felt like it had taken up a sizable chunk of my life that I wasn't getting back. I was just done with all of the stress and nausea it had caused me.

Still everyone remained sitting, a dead standstill taking place. Eventually though, the first person made their move.

"If this whole thing has just been a waste of my time, then I think I shall go."

Neiji stood up from his seat near the back of the rows, making his way over to the side door with a haughty stride, not bothering to even look back as he made his way out.

The room descended back into a deadlock again until the next two or three also people got up, heading to the exit.

And after that, the exodus occurred like a tidal wave.

Stunned, I stood frozen in place on stage and watched as the seats slowly emptied.

It had worked. I had _really_ worked. My legs regained that lovely jello feel, and I knew sooner or later I was going to collapse from sheer relief.

But then the illusion was shattered by the glares I caught directed at me as people walked out.

They all hate me.

Out of all reactions I thought I might have, the one I actually experienced was the one I never expected. I went numb. My brain went numb; my body went numb; yet somehow was still shaking uncontrollably.

Just five minutes later found almost everyone had clearing out of the area, only a few stragglers left behind. Among those were notably the very alarmed looking Sakura and Ino, along with some other women.

One of them who had short cropped light brown hair walked up to me, seeming to be in her early twenties. Mostly likely she was one of Kakashi's admirers. Her face was bright red, fists clenched as she strutted up to where I was still standing on the platform. She jammed a finger in my direction, hand shaking violently.

"You're a despicable piece of human trash, you know that!?"

My breathing stopped. Another reminder of the consequences of what I've done being shoved in my face. The glares were hard enough to see, but this; this was much more personal. I had a vivid face to connect with someone who hated me.

The other women in their group looked at me with glares of their own from a distance, but none of them bothered to say anything else to me themselves. After she said her piece, she stomped out the building, the rest of the group trailing shortly behind.

I watched them go with a numb detachment, still trying to comprehend exactly what I'd just witnessed.

Now the only people left in the building were Sakura, Ino, Kakashi, Anko, and then myself. It looked like the priest guy had taken the opportunity to run off to his next gig.

Anko suddenly slapped me playfully to the back, a knowing smirk on her face.

"Not bad, kid! You really are an interesting one."

She jumped down the platform, kimono trailing behind her. Anko made her way to the door, seeing us off with a lazy wave.

"Good luck with the fallout."

A door slammed shut.

And then there were four.

Ino and Sakura cautiously stepped forward, watching me with guarded expressions. For some reason I couldn't gather up the energy the care anymore. Any fear or resentment was replaced by a hallow emptiness; something that a voice at the back of my mind was telling me wasn't a good thing.

Ino was the first one to step forward, silently looking over at Kakashi before coming back over to me.

"Mako-chan, is that all really true?"

I shrugged, my body twitching along with the action. I for once had no problem with meeting her eyes, not feeling a overwhelming urge to look away.

"Kakashi-san and Anko-san really aren't together."

"That's not what I'm asking-"

"_Ino."_ Sakura butted in quietly, moving up closer to where I was standing.

"Kakashi-sensei, what's really going on here? You lied to me earlier today and said that everything I had been hearing was true. You _willingly_ came here!"

I turned to look at him myself, a morbid curiosity growing on what his response would be exactly. He looked like his normal self, slouching back and giving a nonchalant shrug.

"It's like Kato-san here said. We were never together."

"But-!"

He slightly shook his head.

"Even I never got the full story of what was really going on here."

Again all eyes were on me.

I exhaled, the words rolling off of my tongue feeling robotic.

"I tried to explain to you before on the day you were planning the wedding here. You didn't listen to me so I had to take the matter into my own hands. Maybe what I explained here today wasn't the truth, but it was close enough."

Sakura's eyes widened.

"Then does that mean Tsunade-sama really-?"

I slowly nodded, eyesight drifting towards the side door.

"I can't really blame you for not believing me. It's not like we're really friends or anything."

She looked taken back by the statement, but it wasn't like it wasn't true.

I just needed to get away, sit in my apartment until I could feel normal again. My brain just wasn't processing this right now and I knew it. Whatever I felt after my senses came back to me; I had enough sense to know I wouldn't want to experience it in public.

I stepped down from the platform, fiddling with the clip in my hair. I really needed to see if I could give this back. There was no need to be given something special for a wedding that wasn't really one at all. Out of all possible people to give this gift to, I was clearly the wrong choice.

"I need to go."

I forced my wobbling legs to move, dragging my unresponsive body to the side door. I didn't feel like looking back at their reactions, so I plainly didn't.

"Mako-san, wait!"

There was a bit of a desperate plea in Sakura's voice, but with all of the apathy I was currently feeling, I just ignored her instead. I had had enough of confronting my problems for one day.

It was time to leave.

I reached for the handle; turning it aside and pushing the door open on my way to the exit. Suddenly there was a flash and a blur by my side, eventually materializing into a figure.

A hand made its way to the top of my head and it stayed there for a few seconds as I turned to give the person a blank stare.

Kakashi smiled back at me, rustling my hair, his one eye crinkling in return.

"Come by the memorial stone some time and I'll train you, alright?"

It took me a couple of long seconds for my brain to register what he was saying.

Did-

Did he just forgive me?

I went speechless as he turned into a blur and disappeared once again, and as I turned around to look, out of the building completely and only a scattering of leaves left in his place.

Sakura came scrambling forward as I stood frozen in place, frantically trying to stop me before I could leave for good.

"Mako-san! We need to talk!"

Whatever impact Kakashi's words had on me, they kick-started a part of my brain that had been rendered dormant for the last few minutes.

I needed to run. _Right_ _now_.

My arm reached for the knob, throwing open the door and shutting it behind me with a loud thud. Making my way out through the hallway system as top speed, I found the exit door and ripped it open as well, bounding out of the alley way and down the nearly empty street.

As I ran for my apartment I didn't look back once, and this time, nobody followed.

* * *

><p>AN: I'm not sure I conveyed all of the emotion I was trying to when I wrote this, but I did my best. Whatever expectations people had, I hope I was able to live up some of them at least. I must say though, I'm a pretty poor fictional wedding planner. XD I took some liberties for Japanese weddings, so this one probably isn't the best example of your average one. Buffet style eating apparently really isn't done very often in Japanese culture.<p>

:/ I hope to update much more quickly next time, but RL has been getting very busy for me lately. I'm currently learning Japanese and I must say that it's been a lot of intense work to keep up and not fail. We have at least one or two quizzes every day, one of them being based on some sort of memorization.

Until next time! :D


	49. Realizations

I slammed the door behind myself, locking it shut with shaking hands. My breathing came out in ragged bursts as I tried desperately to gulp down some fresh air to fill my aching lungs.

I swallowed, the texture of sandpaper filling my mouth.

Water. That's what I needed right now.

I stumbled over to the cupboards, pulling open doors without much care about closing them afterwards. Finally I found and grabbed out a ceramic beige cup, loosely gripping it in one hand as I staggered over to the sink.

After turning the handle on the faucet, I let it fill up about halfway before chugging it back in one large gulp.

That was a mistake.

I immediately choked as it started to go down the wrong way, involuntarily coughing out the rest in one giant spit take. A nice burning sensation started to hit my lungs.

Roughly setting the cup on the table with a _thud_, I moved to wipe the excess water off from around my mouth with the back of my hand.

Right now I just didn't know what to feel, or what I was even really feeling at the moment either. It was just a flurry of emotions I couldn't hope to identify.

So in the end my brain just went numb as a response.

When it came down to it, when I really admitted it to myself, almost the whole time I'd been stuck here I avoided thinking deeply about anything of real importance. And that wasn't an accident. From before and after I decided that this was all a dream, there were certain things I just avoided thinking about all together or just brushed off quickly enough.

And the wedding…

My eyes started to become a bit moist, vision starting to blur at the edges.

I should sit down.

Hobbling over to the couch, I slumped down in front of it, resting my back against the soft surface while bringing my knees to my chest.

I just sat in there in stone cold silence for a long while, trying to keep my thoughts blank. But as a result, I could feel the hyperaware pangs of pain as the kanzashi in my hair pulled tightly against the roots.

Something in me finally snapped.

I reached up and grabbed it, ripping it out without much care and pulling some strands out of my scalp along with it. Flinching back at the sudden pain I almost dropped it from my grip, but just clenched my teeth tightly instead.

Taking another close look at the object, it was still as pretty as the last time I saw it, regardless of the clumps of green hair attached.

Green hair.

The blur in my vision started to grow a bit larger.

Not brown. Green.

Green.

It wasn't my hair.

And this wasn't my face.

Or my body.

Not even my name.

This wasn't me.

I wasn't Mako.

I'd never been Mako.

I didn't care what the other people in this world thought. I wasn't from here; this wasn't my home.

I didn't belong here.

I didn't want to belong here.

What I really wanted was to go home.

Tears began to trickle down my face and I quickly moved to wipe them away. That, though, didn't stop the hiccups from breaking their way through.

I roughly shook my head.

This was stupid. I was really crying? How pathetic was that?

I let out a choked back laugh between my increasingly violent sobs.

Just- I just had to pull it together and not think about it too hard. I just wouldn't think about the fact that in a way I had taken over someone else's body, the fact that I might be stuck here forever, and that I might never see the people I cared about ever again.

I really love my family. They mean the world to me, extended and all. Even if at times they annoy me or piss me off in whatever way, they're still family. And to me, my friends were a part of that very important group.

Those were the people who actually cared about me. They were the people who didn't talk to me out of some kind of obligation or pity. Unike Sakura, Ino, or Hinata. Maya most likely was the same as then.

Probably everyone was.

Because people hated me. And I made them hate me. Maybe I could of done something different- been a different person. And then…

And then I wouldn't have ended up like-

Like this.

All alone. Hated and alone.

There was a part of my life I never told many people about, not even how I really felt during it all to my parents. They were doing their best at the time, it wasn't right of me to guilt trip them about it or make them feel bad. I should have gotten over it by now, but it still held tightly to its prime spot in my memories as much as I told myself it didn't matter anymore.

My parents had lost both of their jobs during the recession at about the same time, leaving our family in a financial crisis. All of a sudden were could barely afford anything anymore, my parents saving accounts being sucked dry to just pay to basic bills.

So things had to be cut. My sister Maria's and my schooling was the first thing to go. We both went to a private school about a half hour away from where we lived, the reason being because of how poor the education system was in my state. Pretty much anyone who was fortunate enough to have money to do so did the exact same thing. I think because of how my mom and dad grew up poor they gained this huge need to give us the best they could, regardless of what they had to cut out for themselves. They had worked hard to get their high paying jobs in business and keep our family afloat and better.

We barely were able to keep our house and only because of a lone from my grandpa to our family. It was nowhere enough, though, to keep from having to drop out halfway through the year and switch over to a public school.

I knew that doing that crushed my mom and dad inside. They had worked so hard for all of this just to have it ripped away. They felt guilty; heck, they still feel guilty about all. All the way up to my sister's graduation they talked about saving up enough money to send us back.

So I ended up going from a small school where pretty much everyone knew and grew up with one another, to a giant public middle school where everyone had already gotten elementary school plus a whole semester to make new friends.

I was the odd one out. My sister, being the person she was, didn't have this problem for some reason. Maybe it was because she was older, I don't really know.

But me, I was the weird kid who didn't get how busses, lockers, or even schedules worked. The only things I had to wear were ugly, cheap clothes because all I previously had in my wardrobe were uniforms and a few casual things meant for summer. We had to go out and buy all new stuff with the little money we had at the time. Knowing I looked inferior to everyone else didn't really do much to boost my confidence.

I made dumb jokes all of the time and was overeager to try and make new friends with people. These new people didn't get my sense of humor like my old classmates did; they just gave me weird looks instead. I tried too hard to try and impress them, to get them to like me. I was too desperate and I didn't really relate very well to them with our short but different life experiences. We didn't really like the same things and half of the time they had no ideas what I was even talking about.

That left me alone like an island in a sea of people who didn't want anything to do with me.

I had no friends the rest of that year, I always eating lunch alone at a lunch table with people who tolerated my presence but ignored me all the same, leaving an empty space between me and them where we sat.

About midway through that semester though there was this group of girls I ended up working with on a group project. They were already friends with one another and I was overjoyed when they included me in on their conversations instead of ignoring me.

What I didn't realize at the time was though that they were only talking to me out of obligation and pity, not because they wanted to be friends. They had all the friends they wanted, and the annoying new kid didn't fit into that equation.

Still trying to become friends with someone and seeing this as my chance, I told them some things about myself. One of those was that I used to go to a private school. They thought I was gloating.

Looking back, I think they might have thought I was insulting their intelligence since they never were the best in school. But I ruined it all, even if they were never going to really do much more than tolerate me in a two-faced act.

And with that they ended up just making "helpful" comments to me about things like my wardrobe or shunning me when I came by them for the rest of the year. I decided to never share that information freely ever again.

They weren't the first people to find me annoying. Once I finally picked up on the social cues, I had realized how many people wanted nothing to do with me. I was so out of my element at the time and desperate I didn't realize it until it was too late.

I had tried so hard, but in the end everyone just ended up hating me. Maybe in reality it wasn't really everyone, but no one ever told me otherwise.

And I was just trying to be myself. Afterwards I decided to change exactly who that was because people would never like me otherwise.

The next school year things were different. My childhood friend Eli transferred over and had new classes with people I'd never met before. I learned to put on a polite act, but as it slowly cracked away, these people didn't care. They liked me for who I was. They even laughed at my lame jokes as I laughed back at theirs.

Rachel was one of the first people to tell me that I was funny and that I should keep it up. We pretty quickly because best friends, pity having nothing to do with it.

Things only got better from there; that point in my past just became just a distant memory. People grew up; things changed; I changed.

Maybe I didn't necessarily change only for the better.

My parents eventually found work in the form of contract jobs, finally giving them the security of knowing we were no longer in danger of foreclosing. I could finally get some decent clothes to wear and not feel uncomfortable in. My mom and dad didn't make nearly as much anymore and yet had to work much longer hours. The time we used to have to spend together seemed to be sucked dry.

I knew it wasn't their fault, but I couldn't help but feel the resentment. It just wasn't fair. They loved us, but I wanted them to be around more to tell us that personally.

But all of this happened a long time ago. I should have gotten over it by now. In comparison to other people's problems, it really wasn't all that big of a deal.

Still, I never forgot how it all felt, how I was treated. I never wanted to experience it ever again. I tried to not think about it and just move on, but all it ever did was feed into my subconscious.

I had tried my hardest to become someone who wouldn't be hated by anyone, someone you never picked up on your radar enough to even register those feelings. The type of Someone who was never really themselves; except for when they where around their friends or family.

But I also became someone who probably gets a little over excited at the prospect of doing whatever they wanted without consequences. Without ever having to fear the opinions of others, of being hated.

Like in a dream.

I had built up a dam internally and it had built up enough pressure that at the first opportunity it burst.

I tried again to wipe my tears and snot away with my sleeve, but new ones just as quickly filled the tracks falling down my cheeks.

It was stupid to cry. I should just be able to get over it.

But maybe I just never really dealt with it in the first place. I let it fester like a sore and pretended it was never there instead of actually treating it.

And that's how I dealt with almost everything. By now...

If I was going to finally be honest with myself, deep down I really did want people to like me. I so desperately wanted to be that person everyone wanted to be friends with. Not the weird kid. Not the annoying one.

But I wasn't that person.

And I didn't know what to do.

I'd repeated the cycle once more, dug up all of those fears and insecurities and made myself face them front and center. I made people hate me, but this time I wanted to help them for the right reasons instead of just personal security.

Maybe I had done a bit of growing up after all.

But I still made many other people hate me instead and this time it was my own choice to do so.

What did that say about me exactly? I hadn't really conquered any fear or made some big personal triumph. I just decided to take it and now here I was with tears running down my face, crying and unable to stop.

It was pathetic. I was pathetic. No wonder people didn't like me.

I tried to burrow my face into my knees to muffle the sound.

I wanted to go back to where it was safe and happy and home. I didn't know how to deal with how I felt right now. It would be easier if my denial was still as strong as it once was and I could keep just brushing it all off.

I ran away from a lot of things.

There was a reason from why I so strongly wanted to believe this was all a dream. Because if it wasn't, then there would be so many more things to deal with that I didn't want to. Who was Mako? How did I get here? Why am I here? Would I be stuck here forever? Would I die here and never be able to see the people I care about ever again?

And what does it all make me?

I didn't want it to be real, so I convinced myself it wasn't. All of those stupid things I did would have actually happened and I didn't think I could take that reality. And hey, there was always still the slim chance that I might even be correct in the end.

There was a sudden loud pounding at the front door.

I jerked my head up, frozen in place where I was sitting. The knocking only continued and got louder as I held my breath and silently prayed for them to go away already. The exit was blocked and I was far too high up to leave through the balcony.

I was stuck.

Time seemed to drag on for an eternity inside that room. They just wouldn't go away.

I think I might have started to go a little hysterical as my body began to shake and my crying turned into harsh whimpers.

But then the pounding stopped. Only to be replaced with the sound of the lock being slowly turned.

The feeling of pure terror hit as I scrambled to my feet and bolted to the door.

I was too late.

The door swung open on its hinges before I could even reach the handle. Standing just a foot away from my face was Maya.

Her eyes were wide in surprise as her mouth hung open slightly as if she was about to say something.

She just started staring though once she fully realized the current state I was in.

"Are…" Her voice trailed off into silence as she watched on.

"Are you… okay?"

The fact that I couldn't form a single coherent word through my hiccups was probably a good answer to

that question.

Maya seemed to be in some sort of state of shock as she continued to start forming words with her lips and then stopping.

I had to pull it together already. Wiping away the tears and mucus again, I tried to take in a deep breath.

"I-I'm f-fine."

There was a long silence that followed.

"That was a stupid question, wasn't it?"

Maya stepped forward and I stepped back, she grabbing the door handle and shutting it behind her as she moved.

She looked pretty uncomfortable about all of this, not meeting my eyes and instead shifting on her feet as she looked towards to kitchen. Eventually she straightened up, shoulders held back before she made eye contact again.

"…You should probably sit down."

I weakly nodded, the heat of embarrassment slowly burning my face. Never in my life would I want to have anyone see me like this. I needed to stop crying already.

I made my way to the couch, this time actually sitting on it. I threw the books sitting on top of the cushions onto the hard wood floor with a lot more force than necessary, but it felt a little satisfying.

"Stay there. I'll be right back."

I slumped back into the couch as Maya exited the main room and headed into my bedroom for whatever reason. I was just too exhausted to care.

I just waited as I was told and in the mean time tried to force myself to take some deep breaths.

A couple minutes later Maya was back looking a bit more disheveled, Tora held in her arms and a few scratches on her face.

"Here. I thought this might make you feel better."

She set Tore down on my lap and I scrambled to wrap my arms around her. As she settled in I started to stroke her soft fur with my fingers, the action calming me down as I did so. Tora started to purr, wrapping herself into a cocoon in the nook of my arm.

I couldn't help cracking a smile as I watched her just being her adorable usual self.

Maya meanwhile stood and watched awkwardly for a few long moments, moving a bit towards the couch before pausing to reconsider and eventually sit back on top of the table as usual.

We must have sat there in silence for a long couple of minutes, because my tears finally stopped, only the hiccupping at this point still going on. As much as I willed my body to stop it wouldn't listen, regardless of how much I had calmed down.

"I'll… I'll admit that what you did surprised me."

I looked up as she started to talk again, but as she spoke she wouldn't quite meet my eyes.

"During the ceremony I wasn't happy that you decided to just go off script like that."

A sinking feeling hit my gut. I knew it. She hated me for all of this.

"But it worked. And much better than I thought it would."

My eyes widened.

Maya took in a deep breath, exhaling loudly.

"We did it. The three of us really did it. I came here to debrief and maybe give you a piece of my mind, but I was… surprised when I found the door locked and you wouldn't answer, even though, from your ANBU guard's appearance here, I could tell you were home."

I held back a wince.

"They weren't very happy by the way when I tried to pick your lock. I had to try and explain and they eventually let me go in."

Her composure faltered as she asked her next question.

"Why…?" Maya started to ask, voice trailing off again.

She seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Why did you do that? You're obviously upset over all of this for some reason, and it's not because you ended up going with my plan. I get the feeling it has more to do with the audience response at the end."

I tried to just shrug off her claim.

"S-sort of."

Her brow furrowed as she thought, digesting my words.

"You said something before about people hating you; you thought _I_ hated you."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. She was getting too close to the truth.

She took her time before speaking again, tapping a finger against the wooden table surface.

"You could have just saved yourself all of the pain by just going with the plan we had."

My breathing hitched. She'd figured it out.

"So why didn't you?"

Why?

"Be-because it was the r-right thing t-to do."

"Then why are you so upset then? Was it really worth it in the end, to do what you think is the right thing, when all you got out of it was suffering? "

Was it worth it? Was it really? Dragging up all of those bad memories when I could have, instead, just locked them away and just continue on like before? Escaping all the wrath I incurred?

In the end, though, I already knew the answer to those questions.

"Yes."

I delicately rubbed little Tora's ears.

"It… It was."

Maya all of a sudden stood up from her seat on the table, muscles tensed and fists clenched.

"Then you shouldn't care what other people think about you! Even if all of those people in the audience don't know the full story, me, Jun, and Kakashi all do. That's what really matters in the end, right? All of the people who really matter know!"

That's not true. It mattered what those people thought. It mattered a lot.

She gave me an incredulous look, posture deflating.

"…You don't believe me, do you?"

I shook my head, not quite meeting her eyes.

"How… How can you really think that everyone hates you?"

I flinched back violently.

"But i-it's true, i-isn't it?"

"No! What- Why would you even-?"

There was another long silence.

"It's not true."

I jumped at the sudden break in the quiet.

"How d-do you know t-that for sure?"

"Maybe I don't know for sure, but I seriously doubt it."

Maya slowly sat herself back down on top of the table, taking in a deep breath.

"Let me ask you this: going through your day are you constantly thinking about the embarrassing or annoying things other people have done? Do you wake up every morning with the people who have done something bad to you on your mind?"

I shook my head.

"N-No, not unless it just happened."

She nodded approvingly at my response.

"That feeling goes both ways. Trust me, everyone screws up but eventually people move on. Maybe some of them won't like you as much afterwards, but generally those people aren't the ones who really matter in the end. People tend to obsesses over the things they've done more than the people they've actually done whatever to. And hate is a strong word. I seriously doubt anyone actually hates you."

I frantically shook my head.

"I can't… I can't just all of a sudden believe that."

"I wouldn't expect you to suddenly be able to think that way, but the fact of life is that there is no possible way to please everyone. No matter what you do, there will still be some people who don't like you. That's just how it is."

My eyes hit the floor as I wiped my face with my sleeve again.

"T-That's not fair."

"True, the nicest person can still be disliked for whatever reason, probably because some people think they're fake or out of some sort of jealousy. It's not something you can just escape. You just have to recognize that you also have people who love you and know you for who you really are. Luckily those people carry much more weight and importance in the end."

I didn't really have a response to that.

"It's impossible to be perfect, so instead we have to settle with being our best selves. If other people have problem with you then, it's all on them. Have some confidence in who you are."

Confidence? I had loads of confidence.

Didn't I?

"Here in the Naruto world,"

My mouth started moving before I even realized what I was saying, my speech control finally coming back to me as my gaze moved to look solely at Tora.

"I don't really have anyone who cares about me or the actual me instead of Mako, whoever that really is. All of them are gone and I might never see them ever again. I'm pretty sure everyone here just puts up with me or pities me… I'm all alone."

"That's not true."

I looked up in surprise to find her standing right in front of me.

"You told me that we were going to be friends and I accepted the offer. We're friend friends now no matter if you like it or not, right? Besides, you're the only person in this entire world who really knows who I am. A friendship like that is irreplaceable. I understand how you feel probably better than

anyone."

My eyes started to water a bit.

"And you're not just saying that because we got stuck together?"

She looked away sheepishly.

"I- I can't deny that being from the same universe helped, but, regardless, I think that you're a good person. You were willing to ignore the easy way out to do what you thought was right. I wouldn't have done that. Not to mention…"

A small smile crossed her lips, though you could tell it was a bit forced.

"I suppose you can be sort of entertaining sometimes. Like that Lord of The Rings reference. It was admittedly a nice touch."

A bit more she added, "You're not without your flaws of course though."

A small, appreciative smile showed up on my own face. She was trying to cheer me up in her own way.

"Thanks, you too. But you might want to start working on those anger issues while we're on the subject."

Maya's smile slowly grew into a sincere one.

"What about your impulsiveness?"

"And your violent tendencies?"

"But I'm a ninja. It's part of the job."

"And I'm a civilian. You're not supposed to threaten civilians with sharp objects and fear of death constantly."

"Between being feared and being loved, I choose fear."

"Well, I choose love. It's better to have people do things because they want to, not because they have to. Plus with fear at some point you'd have a coup d'état on your hands."

"Who says I'm going to run a government any time soon?"

"Well hey,"

I shrugged nonchalantly.

"After Naruto you could become the next Hokage."

Maya scoffed.

"Yeah, _right_. The line up for that job has gotten ridiculous at this point. Not to mention politics has never really been my thing."

"But politics are interesting!"

"And next you're going to tell me math is fun."

"It is!"

She sighed.

"I guess the good thing about being a ninja at least is that I never have to use complicated math ever again."

"What about that super hard math in the Chunin exams?"

"It's all for show. We never use any of that."

I frowned.

"Wow, that's sort of disappointing. I was under the impression that ninja schooling here was going to get super intense and hardcore."

Maya raised an eyebrow.

"How much dark and gritty fanfiction have you read exactly?"

"Um… I lost count?"

She sighed again.

"Let me just clear this up. Team seven and the whole 'Konoha Eleven' thing are extreme anomalies in the system. They are not a good measuring tool for the average ninja. We may be called ninja but it's not really our job to actually go out and kill people. That's what we have the ANBU for. There are, in fact, jails and prisons that people conveniently forget to mention."

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

"What, seriously?"

"I think it was shown in a filler episode sometime."

"I've never watched those."

"That's… probably for the best. War time is obviously another story, but some people make this society out to be much harsher than it really is. It's a Shonen series after all."

I paused in thought.

"But how do you even remember all of this anyway?"

"I wrote it all down as soon as I could. A nice chunk of my bookshelf at home is dedicated to all information I could remember from the series and my past life."

A sudden realization seemed to dawn on her.

"I still have to invite you over, don't I?"

Right. That was going to be a thing, wasn't it?

"Yeah, we were going to meet at your place to discuss the plan but ended up just coming here to talk again instead."

Maya suddenly looked a bit… nervous?

"If you want," She started to say slowly, carefully choosing her words.

"You could ditch your classes tomorrow and avoid people for a while and come and hang out at my apartment instead. I'm off duty for the day and we've never gotten the chance to really talk normally before. "

I perked up at that suggestion.

"Uh, yeah. Sure! That would be fun."

She looked pretty relived at my answer.

"Great. I honestly- I don't really have any real friends here either."

She stretched her hand forward, awkwardly patting me on the shoulder.

"...I should probably get going. I was supposed to meet up with some other people for an early dinner after the wedding… Hang in there, okay?"

Maya started making her away to the door while tacking on some last minute directions.

"Tomorrow around ten I'll meet you here."

I nodded back in response as she opened the door and gave me one last glance.

"Alright. See you then."

The door was quickly shut closed behind her and I was once again left alone with my thoughts.

I inhaled deeply, releasing my breath slowly.

Maybe she was right.

I lifted Tora up off of my lap and stood up, trying to brush off the cat fur stuck to the kimono. I started to gather up the books that had been strewn around the room onto the floor, putting them back neatly in a pile on the couch.

Minutes later it finally occurred to me.

She hadn't commented on the trashed state of my kimono even once.

* * *

><p>AN: Special thanks to Falcon's-Fang for being my awesome beta for this chapter. If you have any interest in Elder ScrollsLord of the Rings crossovers, you should go and check out her story Walking the Blade. :)

This was another difficult chapter for me to write. Drama isn't something I'm very good at putting to paper, but I'm trying to get better at it. If you want a comparison of my improvement, just go check out chapter 23 of this very fic. I tried my best at the time, but I feel like it was kind of a failure to get what I wanted out of it. :/

Yay for learning! :D

So anyway, here I finally revealed some more details about Kay and what she's be thinking this entire time underneath all of it. I think I may have just established her of being a bit of an unreliable narrator in a way. Er...

Well, in case anyone is concerned, yes this still will be a humor story, even if more drama is starting to be thrown in. Kay's just the type of person who will make jokes and more lighthearted comments pretty much no matter what. She's just not the type to sit around and angst forever.

*****Most importantly I have to say, assuming people have read this far into this author's note, is that this chapter is kind of marking the end of the first half (or maybe third, depending on how long the next arc paces out) of the story and there will be a lot more plot and action moving forward. I apologize for the slow pacing that's made this sort of slice of life, but I didn't really have plans then, but I do have a nice guideline worked out moving forward. So basically, I'm finally putting that Mystery genre tag to use.

By halfway, I don't mean that there be 46 more chapters until I'm done or exactly double the word count from this chapter on, but storyline wise. I seriously doubt the chapter count will double because the average lengths of these chapters are increasing, but the word count really might.

Wow, this was a long author's note. O_o


	50. Tea Time

Before all of this happened, never in a million years would I have thought that one of the most terrifying things I'd ever have to experience would be just the simple act of having to walk down the street.

Maya was leading, I following right behind as we headed in the direction of her apartment, a heavy wooden kimono box in my arms being held in a death grip.

Some people stared as we passed by them on our way, the vast majority of them being ninja, sometimes a civilian here and there as well. As much as I wanted to pass it all off as chance, some of the looks sent my way lasted far too long for it to be by coincidence. And on top of that, some of the not-so-hushed murmurs being passed around occasionally cleared up any uncertainties I might of have had.

"That's the girl."

"Did you hear what she did?"

"How despicable."

"Her parents must be ashamed."

"What kind of horrible person would do that?"

It might not have been everyone in the village who knew what I had done, or thought I'd done, but it felt like it. It was embarrassing and terrifying and made me want to immediately revert back to my state from yesterday.

Moving along, I kept my head down for the most part, the only thing I really responded to being the constant small talk that went on between us as we walked. I was pretty sure it was just Maya's attempt at distracting me from what was going on around us.

I kept repeating the mantra over and over in my head of, _'They don't hate me. They don't hate me. It'll go away soon. They don't hate me.'_

My legs shook, face blanched white as I practically dragged my body along to keep pace. I had to constantly fight off the instinct to go run and hide somewhere every time someone recognized me.

We finally turned a corner into a more residential street, walking a couple more paces before stopping in front of a building.

"Well, this is the place!"

At those words I almost keeled over with relief.

We had arrived in front of a newer, well kept looking blue two-story apartment that was nestled in between a couple of other larger living complexes and was close by a couple of small shops in the area.

Only having to go up to the second floor, it luckily didn't take very long for us to get away from the crowds. Maya quickly took out her key from inside her pack, putting it into the lock and turning it until she got the 'click'. Weirdly enough, instead of just opening the door and going inside like any sane normal person would, she reached out with her right hand, placing it directly on the top center of the door.

Er-

"What are you-? "

And that's when the reaction to sprung to life, black lines slithering out from the center circle that appeared around her hand, coiling out like a vine until they had completely covered the entire door.

I just stared.

Um.

I continued to stare.

Well, she _did_ say she used seals…

"Just some extra precautions in case anyone tries to break in."

But wait-

"But if someone saw you do this, wouldn't they know just to do what you did to get inside, defeating the entire purpose of having extra precautions?"

She gave me a sly smirk that sent shivers down my spine.

"Don't worry Mako-chan. It's a lot more complicated than that."

I tried my best to not look completely horrified at the conclusion my brain was jumping to.

"How so…?"

"They'll gain a couple of complementary body piercings and a good reason to take a trip to the hospital, assuming they make it that far."

I nodded numbly, like I saw this sort of thing all of the time, and there was totally nothing abnormal about this level of paranoia. Then again, living in a ninja village this was probably standard procedure.

After she took her hand away and the lines nearly instantaneously dispersed, Maya pulled open the door, giving me my first look at what the kind of place she lived in was like. I've learned that a person's home or room can really reveal quite a lot about them. And Maya, well Maya-

She was on the path to becoming a hoarder.

The main room encompassed the kitchen area, living, and bedroom with the bathroom separated in the back right corner. There was a door leading to a balcony through the kitchen, a single table and chair in there for eating. The bed was pushed off to one corner with a bedside table next to it, a love seat with a coffee table in the middle of the room facing away from the front door.

There was very good reason though for my accusation. There was stuff pretty much everywhere. Bookshelves took up all of the free space of the walls packed full of what I could only call 'stuff'. There were scrolls of all sizes, boxes, miscellaneous weapons, and much, much more than could be identified with a single glance. A collection of wall scrolls were hanging up above her bed, barely an inch of space free. There was a bit of musty smell that wafted through the air, probably from some of the older, more fragile looking items around. The couch and table were piled up with weapons and souvenirs, some of that spilling into the kitchen area and the floor.

Getting over my bit of initial shock, a comparison quickly hit me.

This… reminded me of my sister. She basically hoarded anything related to the anime and manga series she liked, and a bunch of which she had actually taken to college with her. My parents, especially my mom, weren't happy about her spending habits.

Something of what I 'd been thinking earlier must of shown on my face, because they next thing I knew Maya had gone over to one of the shelves and took out a scroll out of a large pile, activating it and stuffing the overflow items laying around the room inside.

"Ignore the mess. I don't usually have people over, mostly because of the sensitive information about our world and the plot I keep around here."

I slowly nodded, eyes wandering around the room.

Honesty, I think it would take me a good of couple hours to dig through all of this and find wherever it was she was hiding. I could give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that the clutter was a planned security measure- but it probably wasn't in the slightest.

I stepped forward after taking off my shoes at the entrance, trying to decide whether or not I should sit down or just wait to be directed. Maya was still dashing around, trying to do some very last minute cleaning.

"So…" I started asking, trying to come up with something to talk about. "What is all of this stuff anyway? Ninja equipment?"

Maya stepped into the kitchen, hastily making tea and putting a few sweets on a tray from a stash somewhere in her cupboards.

"Some of it. A lot of it though are just things I've picked while on missions and traveling around the continent."

Deciding that I probably wouldn't somehow offend her by sitting down, I took a seat on the couch and put the box down next to me, twiddling my thumbs as I let my eyes wander around the room.

"So Maya… do you have anything you like to collect in particular?"

With all of this stuff, there had to be multiples of _something _here.

"Ah, Well- Kimonos, I guess. They don't come cheap though, so I don't own very many. You've heard of that quasi-Korean country right?"

I nodded, watching as she turned a knob to start heating the water in the kettle.

"Yeah, but isn't it kind of weird though? I thought this whole world was based on Japan."

She shrugged, putting away some of the packaging the cookies and other things I couldn't identify came in.

"Not really. There's some country or continent out there that's based on Europe as well. They showed up in on the movies, I think."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Actually? I haven't seen that movie, though I did see part of this one Naruto movie where rainbow chakra or something was involved, and I think there was princess who was a porn actress and stared in the Icha Icha movie? And are fillers and movies even actually cannon?"

Maya just scowled.

"Some are, some aren't." Then she went on to mutter under her breath_,"Doesn't make them any more exciting to live through though."_

She then said something quietly with a venomous twinge about curry and life that I couldn't quite make out. Clearing her throat seconds later, Maya continued on with her explanation.

"Anyway, as I was saying, there's also a country out there roughly based on China as well. It's pretty far away and not somewhere you can easily travel to. Whenever I run into goods from there I feel the need to always buy them. They…"

Her voice trailed off and I watched as she bit down on her lower lip.

"They remind me of home."

I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"I thought you said were from Canada."

Her mouth suddenly turned into an 'o' shape.

"Yes- but I'm a fourth Chinese, not that you can really figure that out from my current face or my actual name. Our heritage was a pretty big deal in my family."

That sounded, well, really interesting.

"That makes sense. I really wish my family was like that."

I leaned forward in my seat, elbows resting on my knees.

"My ancestors came over to America, mostly Europe in the early nineteen hundreds. They never even passed on their languages to their kids. I really wish I was bilingual in Italian and English at least, or maybe English and German."

I paused to reconsider.

"Actually, I don't care what language it is. I just wish I grew up bilingual. I used to take French but I ended up switching to Japanese this year, not that only having a few months has really given me much of an advantage here. We hadn't even gotten to history or much culture yet."

The tea kettle went off with a shrill shriek, Maya quickly moving to pull it off of the burner. She grabbed for two cups placed off to the side, placing the tea kettle and everything else she had collected onto the tray before bringing it over and setting it on top of the coffee table. After pulling up the chair from the kitchen, she sat down and carefully poured us both a cup.

I took the cup with a grateful nod, hesitantly eyeing the selection of unfamiliar sweets. There was something that looked like a small block of reddish gelatin with… beans (?) inside and some kind of cookies in various colors and shapes related to nature.

I grabbed one of the cookies off of the tray that was shaped like a purple flower, taking only a small nibble at first. I was pleasantly surprised. The thing tasted like pure sugar, but that was totally okay in my book. I proceeded to shove the whole thing into my mouth.

Maya took one of the cookies herself to eat, biting down on it with much more force than necessary.

"When it comes to languages just find it… what's the word, Ironic? That I ended up as the only Chinese inspired character in the whole Naruto cast when I was part Chinese in my past life, not to mention a double Chinese Language and Culture major in college. It basically ended up being useless here."

She took another sip of tea, hands tightly gripping the ceramic cup.

"But don't both languages use Kanji, or whatever they're called in Chinese? Wouldn't that make it easier?"

She shrugged, shoulders tense.

"In a way. Some kanji meanings can be different between the two languages and some kanji don't even exist at all. The spoken language and grammar is completely different, so that's no help. Half the time it's just a guessing game to figure out meanings."

Well, that attempt to look on the bright side failed.

"That- that sounds kind of terrible. I'm sorry."

Maya only grunted in response.

I grimaced. That was clearly _not_ my best attempt at comforting someone. But then a sudden thought struck me, one I couldn't help but blurt out immediately. It was just something I _had _to know, mood in the room thrown out of the window.

"Does that mean Tenten is actually from not-China? With the clothes and all…"

The atmosphere in the room basically turned to ice. I recoiled back as Maya basically spat out her response.

"Yeah. Originally."

She tightly clenched her jaw together, not bothering to supply any more details to her explanation.

I let out an uneasy smile.

"Ah… Okay."

There was clearly a story somewhere, but it was obviously something that she wasn't as eager to talk about as I was. Her harsh response kind of made me want to know about Tenten even more though.

Maya took another sip of tea, setting down the cup on the table with a bit of a _thud_.

"I've been thinking."

I tensed up immediately. This could be a good thing, or a very, very bad one.

"We need to figure out what's going on here."

Well that was a vague statement.

"About what exactly?"

"This whole reincarnation business."

She grabbed for another sweet from the tray, biting down hard on a pink flower.

"I could buy my ability to remember my past life being some sort of freak cosmic accident, but two people? There is no way this is just some coincidence."

I grabbed for another cookie myself, resisting the urge to grab a couple and stuff them in my mouth all at once.

"Okay, sure, but it doesn't look like our 'reincarnations' or whatever even happened the same ways. You're kind of the standard for this type of thing and I'm obviously not."

"But have you actually _done_ any real research into who Mako is or how you even got here? Do you know that for sure?"

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

"Do were really have to dig into this? I mean, does it really matter in the end?"

Maya gave me a leveling stare.

"Are you really just okay with that?"

I decided to play dumb.

"Okay with what?"

Her eyebrows furrowed, mouth curling into a frown.

"Are you really just okay with being oblivious to what's going on around you? Don't you want to know what's really happening?"

I looked away, my eyes scanning over the bookshelves around the room.

"I don't know,"

My voice grew quieter.

"Maybe."

There was a long silence as I avoided meeting her eyes.

"Then what is your great plan to get home then? Just wait around until it all magically falls into your lap?"

I felt the heat rush to my face.

"Like I mentioned before, I'm going to wait until someone like Jiraiya comes back and then he could unseal my seal for me."

I looked back to see her with crossed arms, body language screaming disapproval.

"Then what? As far as I can tell that won't fix your problem. Chances are you'll just be stuck in going between the real world and the Naruto world until someone decides to seal you up again. How do you know he'll even agree in the first place? He's Tsunade's teammate. There's no way he wouldn't go through her with this first."

My heart sunk, face growing even warmer.

"I-I never really thought about that part."

"The only way for you to get home, assuming you're not dead, is to figure out the mechanisms of how we've been able to cross over here in the first place. There has to be some sort of logical explanation, someone behind it all possibly. We have plenty of psychotic god-wannabes to choose from."

"Someone like Orochimaru?"

Maya nodded, uncrossing her arms.

"I'm thinking a bit bigger. Maybe Danzo or even Mardara."

Whatever drama associated with announcing those two names was totally lost on me.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that they're major villains?"

"Yeah, they are. But with only us two trying to figure this out, I'm not delusional enough to think we could ever just have a lovely chat with any of them and demand answers."

"Maybe there are more people out there like us who could help? Maybe someone was reincarnated as one of the main characters who'd be powerful and knowledgeable to help? If there are two, there's got to be more, right?"

Maya let out a frustrated sigh.

"Trust me, over the years I've tested every one of the main characters and a good majority of the important people I've come across. But I know that even then my questioning can't be foolproof. That wasn't what convinced me that I was alone though."

"Then what was?"

She threw up her arms in exasperation.

"The fact that nothing has changed this entire time, that's what! I seriously doubt that every person who could end up in this position would just follow along with the plot like I have. There haven't been any divergences so far. How do you think I caught you so easily? I keep tabs on what goes on around here, the notes I have stored away helping me do that."

I started looking back around at the numerous bookshelves, trying to fruitlessly figure out where those special plot containing books she was talking about were located.

"Are they in English? Can I read them?"

Maya got up from her chair, waving for me to follow as we gathered around one of the bookshelves to the right of where we were sitting.

"I hid these in plain sight. A scroll would be too obvious."

Okay, so maybe she knew what she was doing with all of this clutter after all.

I think.

She took out one volume out of the shelf that was in simple brown binding, setting it in my outstretched hands. She then set three more on top of that in quick succession. Together they weighed a good couple pounds.

Geez, how much did she write exactly? What was there really to write about that this much detail was needed?

"I ended up writing them in a mix of English and Spanish. On top of that everything has been coded in case anyone ever got curious enough to break in here and look around."

I wearily eyed the small stack of books in my hands, excited about finally getting the chance to set things straight about the plot once and for all, but-

"I don't know any Spanish. I mean, living in the US I at least know some very basic by default, but not enough to carry a conversation after saying 'hello', asking how the other person is, and asking if I can use the bathroom."

Maya started to rub her temples, eyes partially squeezed closed.

"I'm probably just going to have to decode it for you myself. I would just try to write it out from memory, but some on the earlier stuff I haven't touched in so long I that might miss something important. It'll be good to have two pairs of eyes on it than one."

I nodded, eyes lazily wandering over to the rest of the books on the shelf as Maya took the volumes out of my hands, taking them over to the kitchen table, grabbing out some ink and paper out of her bedside table to start decoding.

"You can look around if you want. This is going to take a while. Just be careful not to touch anything that might be dangerous."

For all I knew this could _all _be dangerous. Maybe it was a good rule of thumb to not touch anything.

I started walking around the room, trying to find something book-wise that caught my eye and might be about my pitiful reading level.

After about two minutes I realized that was an impossible goal.

"Hey Maya, do you have any- er- _simpler_ books in here?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Something a small child could read without having to ask for help?"

"And why would you want that?"

"I'm studying children's literature in order to better understand my classmates?"

She shot me an incredulous look from where she was setting up at the kitchen table, pulling the chair back into its original spot.

"No. I don't. If you really want some kid's books that bad then you should just go to the library. Most of this stuff here is on history or chakra theory that I've picked up while traveling. I don't really have anything light or current either."

I still hadn't gotten over there to pay my fines and I was pretty sure they weren't going to be very eager to lend me things before I did. It would be kind of awkward if I went in there and they recognized me and demanded I pay immediately. But the real reason I wanted to find some kids books this time?

I was bored. I was really, really bored. I just wanted to read _something_ new that would provide some entertainment value that I didn't have to come up with off of the top of my own head.

"Are you sure?"

"You could always go get something from a book store, though I was pretty sure you'd want to avoid going out in public today."

Oh sure, I completely and utterly did with all of my being, but I had no idea how long it would take to decode those books while I sat around and waited. We didn't know each other so well yet so we'd probably run out of topics before the afternoon was over. Then I'd probably get impaled with a kunai because I decided to touch a book out of boredom.

"You could come with me…?"

"Do you want these notes or not?"

"I do, but I'd appreciate it forever if you held off on it for a couple of minutes and tagged along like the buddies we are!"

I was laying it on thick and Maya could tell as she rolled her eyes.

"Do you even have any money on you right now?"

Er-

"No…?"

She let out a sigh.

"Alright, fine. We can go and look around for a little while and I can lend you some money if you want to buy something. But then we'll head back so I can get this over with. I think there's a bookstore close by here. I've never actually gone to it though."

I started making my way to the door, hastily grabbing for my shoes and slipping them onto my feet.

"Awesome! Thanks a ton!"

I heard some grumbling coming from behind me as I heard the sound a chair scraping against the floor.

"Let's hurry back. This might take me all day to finish."

I held back a groan.

Hopefully that children's book would be thick enough to last me several hours.

* * *

><p>AN: This update took a while, which I apologize for, but things got crazy for me with the end of the school year and then I got really distracted with my other hobbies. I also kept rewriting this chapter because I just kept getting frustrated with the results. Those two getting to Maya's apartment was taking too long and their conversation just ended up being an exposition info dump. I think I'm happy with this though and how it turned out.<p>

I admit that the ending was pretty anticlimactic there, but I have a good reason for them to head to the bookstore. It's pretty important to the plot. :D I'm pretty excited to write this next chapter going forward.


	51. Fangirling

I had to stop my lower lip from quivering _right_ _now_.

I wasn't going to cry. No matter what happened or what I heard, I wouldn't break down crying and give those people the satisfaction of know what they said had actually done anything damage.

"Hey, chin up. The more you look like you've done something wrong, the more people will stare."

I jumped at Maya's sudden comments, craning my neck to stare wide eyed as she walked right next to me. I gave her back a shaky nod.

"R –Right. Those _are_ the basics."

She smiled back at my response.

"Exactly. Just act like you know what you're doing and have all of the confidence in the world and you'll be fine."

I gulped, trying to gather up the courage I'd need to follow her advice.

"Plus, if anyone tries anything, I'll skewer them for you."

I had to take a couple of seconds to make sure I had just heard that correctly.

Then I started cracking up. I quickly moved to cover my mouth before the giggles were able to escape. Wiping away the tears that were starting to form, I tried to hold back a smile as Maya raised her eyebrows at my reaction.

"Sorry- You just said that so casually, and- No really. It's okay. I'm pretty sure that attacking random people on the streets is illegal. Don't get in trouble for me."

She shrugged in response, a smile tugging at her lips.

"We can always claim self defense. Not many people want to take up a legal battle against ninja."

"Yeah, can't imagine why…"

"These people _did_ decide to live in village along with trained killers."

"Yeah, I get that, but what about civilian rights? And that reminds me; I did come up with the idea for creating civilian sports teams to entertain the populace. I really need to find someone to pitch that to."

"The Hokage?"

"Yeah… Maybe."

We were walking around the area near her home, more people outside this time than even just a half an hour ago. The streets were already bustling with some activity, though the kids whole usually were running around noticeably missing. My guilty conscience reminded me that I should be in school right now like them instead of skipping like the rebel I so was. There was a bit of paranoia that somehow I'd be caught, but I'm pretty sure it would be harder to convince someone that I actually _was_ an academy student, than convincing someone that I actually wasn't.

Right up ahead was a corner store that had large front windows, the interior hidden from view with advertisements for different books inside, not that I actually knew what they read. The photos of the books on them were my only clue.

I felt a surge of joy as we walked closer to the building and I realized that I could actually read the sign hanging above the front door. It read, 'Hon-ya'; 'Hon' meaning book, and 'ya' meaning shop or store! I'd actually learned something useful! Sure I could've been able to read that just from the things I'd learned in my Japanese class before getting stuck here, but I was having a moment here, so that detail didn't really matter.

A bell rang as I pushed open door, the cool air of the shop rushing forward to greet us as we stepped inside. The bookstore itself wasn't a very large space, but it was comfortable enough, rows of low bookshelves throughout, the checkout counter at the back of the room with a display full of magazines.

There was a person behind the counter, a thin, older man with wire rimmed glasses and balding brown hair that had speckles of gray. There were a few wrinkles around his eyes from what I could tell, but the lower part of his face was hidden by the book he had it stuffed into. At the ringing of the bell, his eyes flicked up to great us, I getting a wary glance before he set the book down, giving us both a professional smile.

"Welcome. If you find you have any questions, feel free ask at any time."

We both told him we would, and he went back to reading his book like before. Maya poked me on the shoulder to catch my attention, pointing over to an area on the right of the store.

"Mako-san, I'll be over there if you need me. I need to look for some theory books for a technique I'm working on."

I nodded, deciding to go look around the direct opposite direction from where anything legitimately educational could be found. A sudden chill ran down my spine as I felt the man's eyes on my back as I moved.

Geeze, it wasn't like I was going to steal anything. Has news about the wedding really spread that quickly among civilians?

Poking around I bit, I pulled a couple of things from the shelves, desperately hoping that I could at least read what was written on some of the covers. I _did_ technically come here to get a children's book, but my dignity compelled me to find literally anything else to read.

In the window sills around the store a couple of book displays were set up, one in particular catching my eye. The Icha Icha series, not that I was even slightly surprised to see it there.

The only thing that would ever compel me to read those things would probably be morbid curiosity, but I was sure I'd somehow get through life just fine without ever cracking open a cover.

I moved along, scanning the isles for anything that else that stuck out to me particular. I found the children's section eventually, luckily nowhere near Jiraiya's works. Kakashi walking around with those books everywhere in public was probably traumatizing enough.

Pulling out one large picture book from a shelf, I started to flip through the many pages, mostly just looking at the pretty pictures. From what I could tell from them, along with the few words I could read, the story was about a bunch of bears from a summoning contract going around dressed like ninjas, fighting off other _evil_ summoning animals.

This book targeted at five years made me realize that I really wanted a summoning contract. It would probably be one of the biggest wastes of all time to give it to me of all people, unless say for example, someone came upon a bunny summoning contract. It's not like it would put _that_ much of a dent in Konoha's offensive power if they gave it to someone not exactly… _skilled_. Maybe I could ask Kakashi about getting my hands on one when I ran into him next.

Tucking the picture book under one arm, I went looking through a few more of the shelves for something else to pick instead, but in the end I just went with my first choice. I stood up, stretching my sore back from crouching over for so long. I decided to take the chance to check back at the other side of the room. Maya was sitting on the floor behind a shelf, looking engrossed in whatever she was doing, several books around her open at once. At that rate, if the cashier would _actually_ take his eyes off of me for _two seconds_, he'd realize that I wasn't the one using the bookstore as my personal library. The people at my local Barnes & Noble always flipped out when I decided to hang out and read for free a bit too long.

Since she probably wouldn't appreciate me interrupting her while in the middle her research, assuming that wasn't just a cover, I decided to look around the store a little bit more first. There were a few more displays set up around the room that seemed interesting enough. Most of them weren't really worth my time, meaning I couldn't read titles or there weren't even any interesting cover pictures to check out.

There was one display though that made my feet instantly ground to a stop.

I picked up one of the books with unsteady hands, feeling pure and utter disbelief as I looked at the cover drawing.

There was absolutely no way I was seeing this right.

I frantically put the book back down; grabbing another that looked like it was from a different series written by the same author.

Turning it over in my hands, I tried my best to keep calm and not panic in the presence of the guy who would probably love an excuse to kick me out.

I looked over at the cover closely, trying to figure out if my brain was just playing tricks on me. But no, it was two for two. And it looked like there was actually a third series here as well. I set the book down on top of the other, reaching forward for the third.

I held my breath.

It was three for three.

This cover had the same thing in common with the rest.

Maya, if this pans out how it think it will, it's all on you. It's not my fault you don't go out shopping more.

It was so tempting to just yell across the room to get her immediate attention, but I forced myself to hold back. I picked up my small stack of books, briskly walking across the room to where she was on the floor, leaning back against a bookshelf.

"You really need to do more light reading."

She looked up at me distractedly, eyes flickering over to whatever she had been researching with a bit of annoyance leaking through, smile still plastered on.

"That's okay. None of that stuff really interests me anyway. Have you figured out what you want to get yet?"

I unceremoniously dropped the pile of books right on the ground in front of her, making Maya flinch back at the sudden action. I crouched down, arranging the books so that they lined up next to one another.

"You could have just held onto…"

Her voice trailed off into silence, eyes widening once she realized what exactly I had just put in front of her.

I pointed to each of them with a still shaking hand, verbally confirming the obvious, though I wasn't quite sure if Maya remembered each of them after so long. My volume dipped to a strained whisper, trying not to have our conversation overheard.

"_Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars_. True it all looks a bit…_different, _but they're written by the same person. It can't be just a coincidence."

Maya snatched up the Harry Potter clone of the floor, her own hands shaking as she flipped through the pages and started reading for several minutes. I just sat down on the floor and watched on tense silence.

Eventually she quietly closed the book shut, taking in a deep breath and then released it with a long exhale.

"I need to check out the rest to be sure, but it looks like the plot is basically the same, though with ninja and a few things changed."

Maya grabbed for the Lord of the Rings one rip off next, starting the same process again.

I picked up the book she had just sat down, taking another look at the cover. The kid on the front looked just like Harry Potter, with the trademark scar and glasses. He was jumping through the air, an ancient Japanese castle in the background. I won't lie; it was really weird seeing Harry Potter dressed up as a ninja. He almost looked like Kabuto, and weirdly enough they both had creepy, snake related people in their lives.

For the Star Wars one, on the cover was very obviously the death star, a guy wearing a samurai helmet suspiciously similar to Darth Vader's, in his hands a genuine light saber. No ninjafying that for some reason. It's not like they even existed in this universe, right? It was borderline copyright infringement, just like these books in fact. But then again, was it really copyright infringement if the original never even existed here in the first place?

Maya must have finished going through them all as I silently contemplated copyright law, because the next thing I knew she had already stood up, grabbing the books from my arms with everything else already been neatly pushed back into the shelves.

She walked over to the register and I scrambled up off of the floor to follow. Maya greeted the cashier with a smile, her entire demeanor completely disarming. I was starting to understand how she was able to con Kakashi like she did.

"I'm sorry to bother you sir, but I was wondering if you could tell me something about the author of these books?"

She sat the pile down on the counter, reaching inside her pack for where she kept her money.

He finally put the magazine away, meeting my eyes one last time before finally breaking away to help Maya with a smile of his own.

I took the chance to glare.

"Of course miss. Does that include the children's book as well?"

"Just the three other ones please."

He grabbed for his glasses that were set off to the side of the register, sliding them onto into the bridge of his nose with one hand. The man grabbed the first book off of the stack, looking it over.

"Ah, yes. The Daimyo of the Rings, written by Yuki Yuki; a pen name of course. The author's books have done moderately well over the years, mostly appealing to young children and the civilian demographic. It's shame that they haven't become widespread yet. There are many unique and innovative ideas being shared through their works. "

Unique. Sure.

"Any idea of where we could find the author? I was hoping that I might get these signed. My friend and I are big fans. The old copies were going worn out and we wanted to get new ones for the occasion."

He sighed, looking legitimately apologetic.

"I'm happy to find some fellow fans, however I'm afraid that I'm not allowed to give out such information. It would be best for you to try and contact a publisher who could get you in touch with the author instead."

Great. Are we going to have to go all the way to the Land of Candy or something just to get a name?

Maya's eyes widened, getting suspiciously watery all of a sudden.

"Oh no? Really? I have this mission I need to go on soon, and it's supposed to be very dangerous. They say there's a very good chance I won't even make it back…"

All of the sudden she seemed on the verge of tears.

"This is just one last thing I hoped to be able to do you know, one last dream to live out before the end?"

The man looked taken back, unsure how to respond. He cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses.

"Well- I suppose I can make an exception for circumstances like that."

He grabbed a pen and a scrap of paper from off to the side.

If that wasn't manipulation, I don't know what was.

"The author is actually from our humble little village here, though they tend to be gone quite a bit to promote their books in port cities across the nation. If you're lucky though, they might still be at home before their next tour starts. Hopefully the Ninja Wars movie will come to pass, no? It was quite a shame when it fell through two years ago."

He quickly wrote down an address on the scrap of paper, pushing it forward for her to grab.

"Now that that's taken care of, shall I ring up your total for today?"

"Thank you very much, and yes, please."

He fiddled with the cash register, looking at the prices on the back of the books.

"It will be four hundred and fifty ryo. Would you mind telling them if you get the opportunity that I would be delighted to host another meet and greet sometime in the future?"

"I'd be happy to, sir!"

Maya handed him the money from a small pouch, the man taking it from her, placing the purchased books inside a brown paper bag. He wrung up the cash register, handing her back her change will a smile.

"Have a lovely day."

Maya grabbed the bag, holding it in her arms.

"Thanks, you too! Let's go Mako-san. We want to make sure we catch them."

She immediately headed to and out the door with a burst of speed, leaving me behind without even realizing I hadn't moved from my spot yet. I hadn't even gotten a chance to respond…

I was just about to run out after her and hope she realized that she had just left me behind, but before I could go, the cashier decided he wanted to say something to me.

"The Shop Owner's Associating has their eyes on you girl."

I spun around, feeling a mix of both annoyance and confusion fall over me.

"The what? What did I even do? Is this about the wedding?"

The man's smile from before was gone, replaced by a stern glare.

"This has nothing to do with some wedding. You trespassed on the property of several shops a few weeks ago. In the process of doing so you trampled on the fine goods of many and disrupted the peace. You gained the name of 'The Green Menace' among many on the board for you recognizable hair color."

The… The Green Menace?

I snapped back at the man, fists clenched tightly at my sides.

"It's not that uncommon of a hair color! What's up with you people?! There could be tons of girls my age with green hair! Plus, I don't even remember ever doing something like that!"

He didn't look perturbed by my comments in the slightest.

"There are several witnesses to the event who were able to identify you and then later provide a successful transformation. Some even saw a couple of our village's upstanding ninja chasing after you for your criminal activity."

What the-? When did something like that happen…? When were people chasing me around town like that?

Then it finally hit me.

Oh.

The Bathhouse Incident.

Some things were finally starting to make sense.

"It was... It's complicated? I can explain! Well, sort of…"

His skin was starting to turn an unnatural shade of purple.

"_Get out."_

He didn't have to ask twice.

* * *

><p>AN: I learned today that the Naruto economy makes absolutely no sense. Seriously, Google it and look at the first Reddit post that comes up. I'm just going to assume everything costs a ton in the Naruto Universe for it to be logical.<p>

I'm really nervous about introducing a new character this late in the story, but I've been planning this for a while and it's crucial to the plot. I had fun wring this chapter, especially the 'Tenten' and 'Mako' dialog at the beginning there. It was actually from another version of last chapter I decided to scrap.

I've actually reached 100,000 words recently and technically 50 chapters if you include the omakes. Hopefully I've gotten better after writing that much. :)

Side note: I've posted an extra side story thing in what used to pretty much be a blank placeholder, creatively called Flashback Extra in chapter 35. It involves Kay's sister Maria if you're interested at all in checking it out.


	52. The Other Half

AN: Sorry for the very long delay between chapters. Classes for this semester ended up being a lot more work than I thought they would. I spend pretty much all of my free time studying Japanese these days. ^^; I think going forward I'll be much faster because I've finally got somewhat of a time management system worked out now. Anyway, on with the story!

* * *

><p>"Did you know that Konoha has a Shop Keepers Association?"<p>

I was jogging alongside a very determined Maya, trying my best to match her long stride as we maneuvered our way through the village streets. After only a few minutes of this I was already on the verge of keeling over on the side of the road. Maya on the other hand didn't seem to have even broken a sweat during our power jog.

Either I was just in terrible shape (hopefully not still _completely_ true) or she was using chakra to enhance her movements and just assuming I could do the same.

I need to get on learning that one immediately.

Maya nodded slightly at my question, eyes glued forward as we navigated in and out of the growing foot traffic.

"Yup, though they aren't incredibly well known among ninja. They do have pretty high standing with the civilian representative on the council though."

So the people I accidentally made enemies out of actually have some sort of power.

Wonderful.

"Say then for example… I hypothetically made these people my enemies? What could they do to me?"

She just shrugged, taking a glance back over her shoulder at a street we just passed by.

"You might get banned from a few shops, but it's not like it would matter very much. They don't have any real power unless you count their role on the civilian council."

Wait, wait, wait! There's yet _another_ council?

"What does that council do?"

"Basically it's a bunch of civilian business owners and trade representatives that come together to choose their representative for the main council, assuming the Hokage decides to accept their representative that is. They talk to each about trade inside and outside the village, and come to the Hokage with anything important they want addressed."

"But they can't pass laws or make any real change?"

"No, none at all really."

…Then what's the point?

I wiped the sweat forming on my forehead, trying to pick up my lagging pace.

"But what about the main council then? Couldn't they go to their representative and through them get things changed?"

Maya just scoffed, a sardonic smile crossing her face.

"Maybe, but that would be assuming the council had any power in the first place."

But…but what about all of that stuff I learned in school then? I get the feeling that the academy doesn't exactly share the whole story, not that it all seemed fair in the first place or anything. But considering that they're teaching young kids, they'd probably have to dumb it down a bit.

"What do you mean?"

"In the end it all comes down to what the Hokage wants unless it is a very rare occasion where the Diamyo is involved. The council are more like advisors than any real source of change. The elders and the council though do decide who the next Hokage will be if the current one dies in while office."

So it's some kind of weird dictatorship meritocracy oligarchy with a bit of a monarchy system thrown in there? Or maybe feudalism is a better way to describe some aspects? The Hokage is technically the head of the military though, not the head of government or state. But they seem to possess more power and real political clout, though they still have to listen to the Diamyo though they seem to be often on the same political standing-

"Is there even a written constitution?"

"You know…"

She tilted her head in thought.

"I'm actually not sure."

Well isn't that nice.

Honestly, if I couldn't even figure out the government system by now…

"We take a left up here. The clan compound should be at the end of the street."

I jerked at her voice, blinking to refocus before begrudgingly pushing away that ongoing analysis for yet another time.

As we maneuvered past a large group of people crowded around some vendors' outdoor stalls, the only possible way I could have missed the sudden change in scenery once we turned the corner was if I'd been blind.

I would say the area rivaled the grandiose of the Uchiha clan, but it was in a more condensed way. The compound itself wasn't very spread out, but they definitely made do with the space they had and then some. The traditional Japanese architecture was a sight to behold, the detail and scale reminding me of some ancient castles even, all in earthy shades of green, brown, and bit of crisp white and some gold detailing even to balance it out. Dark green lanterns and banners lined the streets leading up to the entry, the clan symbol of a green circle with three white dots inside proudly located on every available object.

It really all begged the question of why I hadn't heard of them until now.

"So what do these people do exactly?"

Maya turned her head, looking at me with eyebrows raised.

"You've never heard of them?"

I shook my head, wondering whether or not that was real surprise in her voice or she was just keeping up the role.

"The Mori clan is one of the oldest clans in the village, originally from the area around border of earth country. They're mostly made up of merchants, pretty well regarded ones actually. There are some ninja in the clan, but they don't have any sort of kekkei genkai or specialties besides the occasional earth Jutsu."

So not exactly a clan you would write an action packed ninja based plot around.

"So basically since they don't have any special powers, they don't really matter?"

"Well…"

She started to scratch the back of her neck.

"I wouldn't quite say that. They help sustain the village economy by hiring quite a lot of ninja for protection details for transporting their goods."

Economically that was nice and all, but not even a blip on the radar when it came to plot.

So in other words, they didn't really matter.

"That's…helpful."

"Yeah, right? I think so too!"

I resisted the strong urge to roll my eyes.

We quickly arrived at the end of the street, stopping right in front of the open gate leading inside to the compound. Two guards were standing out front on either side of it, wearing nearly armor reminiscent of samurai, clan symbol proudly displayed on the torso portion.

The moment we stepped close enough, the two men's eyes locked on to us, carefully watching our every movement.

The one on the left, an athletic looking guy who seemed to be in his early twenties with shaggy blond hair partially covering his brown eyes, stepped forward, giving us both a skeptical look.

"What's your business here?"

Maya quickly jumped to answer, ignoring the frosty reception and instead beaming him a disarming smile.

"We're really big fans of the Ninja Wars books and were hoping to meet the author…"

She glanced down at the piece of paper she had partially crumpled in one of her hands.

"…Mori Narumi. We were told she lives here."

The two guards exchanged glances, the older with a five o'clock shadow and shortly cropped brown hair crossing his arms, causing the blond guy to glare back.

As the seconds ticked by without any sort of response from either of them, Maya started pulling the books out of the paper bag, purposely crumpling it as she went.

That caught their attention pretty quickly, causing then to snap their attention back to us.

She waved the books in front of them, smile still plastered on.

"It won't take very long. We were just hoping to get a quick signature from her."

The blond guy's right eye started to slightly twitch, hands curling into fists before giving his response.

"I'm sorry, but they are not currently accepting visitors at this time."

I immediately narrowed my eyes, cutting off Maya just as she was about talk again.

"Could one of you pass along a message to her instead then? I guarantee you she'll let you bring us inside if she hears it."

Well, pretty much guarantee anyway, assuming she was like us.

Maya turned to look at me, and I'm sure if she'd been able to, would have glared.

The twitching on the blond guy's face started to get much worse all of a sudden. The other guard gave him a long stare, the younger holding firm in place. The older guard shot him one last look before stepping forwards himself, his voice gruff.

"What's your message?"

"Tell her…"

I had to really think about this one. My message had to be something that wouldn't be obviously suspicious to an outsider, but to a person who wrote knock off versions of popular series would instantly get, even as the years went by. If it connected with them emotionally, the chances of remembering it might be even better.

"…I actually did enjoy the prequels, and Jar Jar Binks wasn't that bad."

I honestly really didn't care at all about that whole debate (though I'd heard _plenty_ about it from my friends), but if that declaration didn't pull at the memories and emotions of a Star Wars fan, I didn't know what would.

The older guard mulled over my words, eyebrows burrowed as he tried to find some sort of hidden message or threat. Eventually his face relaxed a bit, giving us both a sharp nod.

"I'll deliver it. Remain here."

The next few minutes consisted of us standing around while the guard walked inside the compound, I trying to ignore the glaring from the guard left behind. As the clock ticked on, I was running out of places to look at to avoid eye contact and make it look natural, Maya casually flipping through the books she had bought.

Luckily the torture quickly ended as the guard walked up from the wide path leading inside, a purposeful stride in his step.

"She agreed to see you two. You are allowed inside as long as you don't cause any problems or disruptions. They moment you do so, you will be removed. Are we clear?"

I eagerly smiled and nodded, greatly relieved to get away from the welcoming party.

Maya gave a verbal 'yes', tucking the paper bag under one arm and slipping the piece of paper into her pack.

"Toshi-kun here will be the one showing you the way."

Oh. Yay.

The newly named Toshi shot the other man another glare, jaw tightly clenched together. The other guard didn't even flinch at his reaction, just giving him a friendly _pounding_ on the shoulder. Okay, so maybe not exactly unaffected after all.

"He'd be _happy_ to do it. It's his job after all."

I glanced between the two of them, trying to figure out the weird power struggle going on here. I wasn't sure if Toshi hated _us_ particularly, but clearly something _about_ us made him completely detest our presence.

Hooray for positive thinking.

Toshi grumbled something under his breath, shot us both a scowl, and then walked inside past the gate. He waved us forward and we trotted behind him as he swiftly moved down the small streets.

The interior of the compound definitely lived up to its exterior, the entire space full of grand houses and other buildings along streets, compound bustling with well dressed civilians and a ninja here and there . More lanterns and banners were hanging up around, the place brimming with a tastefully designed landscape of large trees and exotic flowers.

I'd happily trade my apartment to live here.

The clan members that we passed as we walked had the predominate look of light blond or brown hair, having either green or brown eyes. It was basically an entire clan of nondescript looking people.

The house we ended up being led to was a low key, two story traditional home near the back of the compound painted a sage green color. It was tucked away behind a small grove of trees, a well-cared for flower garden out front, and had a stone path leading up the walkway to the front door. I radiated a bright and homey feel that I couldn't help like.

Toshi opened up the door to the house, not even taking a moment knock first. He waited for us to exchange our shoes for slippers, he not even bothering to do to the same. The entrance of the home was simply but tastefully decorated, a hanging wall scroll and a small vase of bright red flowers underneath.

We passed a living room and a kitchen, both full of modern furniture and appliances, though they looked well lived in. There were books stacked around, half opened, a few schoolbooks on the floors or furniture. Judging from all of that and a couple of family photos in on a few tables in the living room that I couldn't make out, it would be a pretty safe assumption that a family lived here.

We climbed the stairs, passing by a few more rooms with closed doors, and eventually stopping at one at the end of the hall. Toshi pounded on the door with his first, impatiently tapping his foot while he waited for a response.

There was some sort of muffled reply coming from the other side, which only served to make him knock even louder.

"I brought you more of your obnoxious fans for you to stroke your ego with! Hurry up and open up!"

The door was slid open almost immediately after that outburst, revealing a short blond teenager on the other side. Shee had to be at the most fifteen years old. I'm not quite sure exactly what I was expecting the author to be like, but what I got probably shouldn't have surprised me.

She rolled her matching brown eyes, tucking hairs behind her ears that had come loose from her short ponytail.

"Geeze, bro. You don't have to be so rude to them. It's not their fault that you're jealous."

Toshi started to slightly sputter.

"I'm not jealous!"

"Then why else would you be so upset?"

He gritted his teeth together, hands partially clenched.

"Maybe because I'm always the one who had to deal with your fans when they show up at our front gate all of the time? They're always spazzed out or try the wise idea of sneaking in here!"

The blond girl glanced over at us, giving us an apologetic smile.

"But these guys are cool. They're totally calm and everything."

"Until they try to kidnap you or take home a 'souvenir'."

_Kidnap?_

"That was only one time!"

The kidnapping thing or the souvenir thing?

Toshi shook his head in frustration.

"Fine. Have it your way. I'll be downstairs on my break."

"Doesn't Omezo-san need to you back at the gate?"

He spun around on his heels, heading back down the hallway and to the stairs.

"He'll somehow deal without me."

The three of us watched him go; only breaking the silence when sound the creaking of the stairs steps tricked out.

The blond girl cleared her throat, a lopsided smile on her face

"Uh- Sorry about my brother. He's been kind of unhappy lately and had been taking it out on other people. I'm Mori Narumi if you haven't already guessed. Please come in."

I stepped inside first, Maya right behind me as I got my first look at her room.

A large wooden desk was pushed up against one wall, covered with books and loose papers, diagrams and other notes taped up all over on the wall behind it. An unmade bed was at the very back of the room, hidden by the rows and rows up bookshelves set up around, leaving just enough room for a low table with cushions and a dresser that had a TV resting on top of it.

Narumi plopped down on one of the cushions, us following to do the same. She adjusted the straps on her lilac tank top, smoothing out the wrinkles.

"I'd offer you some tea or something, but that would mean going into the kitchen and I really don't want to talk to Toshi right now. Ever since his ANBU retirement and him declining to take on a Genin team, he's been in a really bad mood. My parents have been making him do gate duty until he figures out what he wants to do with his life besides laze around all day."

He face suddenly turned a bright shade of pink.

"Er- Sorry. I tend to ramble on a lot. I didn't even ask your names."

Maya leaned forward against the table, crossing her arms.

"Which ones?"

Narumi just shrugged.

"Both I guess. With all of the security we have going on around this place it should be safe to talk openly. Toshi will know if anyone is nearby listening in for some reason."

Well that takes care of the ANBU problem. But after what she said I couldn't help but cut in.

"You seem to be taking this whole thing pretty well. I'm kind of surprised that you're not freaking out."

"Eh."

She shrugged her shoulders once again.

"It's not like you're the first guys I've met from our world."

My jaw dropped open.

"_What?"_

Maya partially stood over the table, slamming her hands down on top.

"_Who? When?_ How did I miss…?"

As her words trailed off and she slowly brought up her hands to rub her temples.

"Just… Just start from the beginning."

Narumi scooted back in her seat a couple of inches, clearly a bit spooked as her wide eyes drifting over to me for some sort of explanation.

"I… I think she means she wants you to share your story from the beginning of when you got reincarnated here. Maybe?"

I looked back over at Maya, who now seemed to be stuck in some sort of state of self loathing at the moment.

"…I'm Kay Masterson by the way. Known here as Kato Mako. She's Maya Tremblay. A pretty good actress with how she pulls off pretending to be Tenten."

Narumi nodded slowly, shoulders relaxing a bit.

"I guess my NenTen ship just died then, huh? Dang! I was looking forward to seeing that pan out in the future."

"I think she said that he and Lee were like brothers to her."

"_Wait_."

She sprung forward in her seat, a mischievous smile forming.

"If she's technically Tenten, does that mean we can finally find out her back-story then? Like does she actually have a la-"

Abort. Abort. Abort!

"You never told us what your real name was."

She jerked back a bit at the sudden cut off, a bit thrown by the new tangent.

"Oh. Uh- Carla Grey. But it's not that important is it? I mean, I much prefer being Namuri anyway."

Who would actually prefer being stuck in a fictional work away from your friends and family in someone else's body?

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you rather be Narumi?"

Her eyes drifted away from mine, suddenly finding the wood grain of the table to be very interesting.

"Look, it's not something I really like to talk about, okay? It's just better. Why don't I just tell you about the other person I met? That's what you really wanted to know, right?"

Maya let out a loud exhale, bringing up her head to give Narumi a leveling look.

"And some other things, but you can start with that."

Narumi flinched back.

"Uh- Yeah. Sure."

She slowly brought of her hand up to clear her throat.

"Well, it was two years ago when my books first started coming out. This twelve year old kid showed up at the gate, somehow figuring out who I was even thought I used a pen name- which is weird by the way because more and more people have been showing up here lately and I never give that out. There must be a leak or something which is really bad because I don't want to make my brother even more upset than he is. Anyway- He wanted to talk to me and when I did he asked me to join his crew he was forming to find the One Piece."

The… the One Piece?

"That anime with the weird art and the main character named after a monkey?"

Narumi hastily nodded at my comment.

"Exactly! I tried to explain we were stuck in the Naruto world, not the One Piece one, but he wouldn't listen! Apparently he was trying to gather a crew of people from our world and build a ship down in Wave to try to sail to the grand line."

Maya sat stared forward into space, eyes narrowed.

"So in other words, that kid might have done all of our work for us."

I felt my jaw drop again.

Holy crap. Our answers might actually be handed to us on a silver platter. If we could just get to talk to all of these people, we might actually be able to deduce something from their stories and come to a consensus.

Narumi looked warily between to two of us.

"Work? What work? What are you guys trying to do?"

Maya was quick to explain.

"We're trying to figure out what's going on here. How we got stuck here in the first place and why there's more than one of us who all remember their past lives."

Narumi frowned.

"Why? We're already dead. Who cares how we got here and that there's more than one of us?"

Maya jabbed a thumb in my direction.

"Well she might actually not be."

I gave a bit of a small wave as the blood drained from Carla's face.

"That's- How's that even possible?"

I cringed, trying my best maintain what I hoped looked like a calming smile.

"I've kind of woken up before back in the real world before. Multiple times."

I think this whole explaining things was going to get old fast. Maybe I should just write up a pamphlet.

"From what we've figured out the only things that's keeping me stuck here instead of going back and forth still is a giant seal I have. A long time theory of mine is that I'm either dreaming in or in a coma right now."

Narumi took in a sharp breath.

"You're either delusional or in denial. The only way people get here is by being _dead_."

Yep, thinking up the bullet points for that pamphlet right now.

"Well, I'm not. I think I'd remember dying if I did."

"Died in your sleep. You wouldn't even know it happened."

"But I woke up and was back in my world again. I was here multiple times without ever having to die to do it."

"I-I don't know!"

She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation.

"It just doesn't make any sense!"

Maya took the chance to cut back in.

"_Exactly._ That's what we're trying to figure out here._"_

She sat back, crossing her arms.

"I don't know about you, but I for the longest time thought I was the only one from our world here. I guess I just read too much fanfiction back in the day and assumed that was what would just be the case. But now that we know that's not true, we can finally start figuring out how and why we ended up in the _Naruto_ world of all places. And based off of all of that, what we want to know is why nothing has changed from cannon even with people like us running around."

Carla scowled, looking off to the side.

"Look. I haven't personally changed anything because I didn't see the point. I saw this whole thing as a second chance at life to live out my dreams and I took it. My parents didn't push me and I didn't really see why I should throw it all away to become a ninja. I may have never lived to see the ending of Naruto, but I know for certain that in the end he saves the world and becomes Hokage. Until then I just have to be careful to not make any rash decisions and get people killed. Avoid going to places where giant battles will break out, you know?"

With however many people like us out there, something should have changed by now like pointed out, right? Not everyone could possibly be like Maya and Carla and sit back and wait. Something noticeable should have happened like stopping the whole Chunin exam invasion stuff maybe? Sasuke's defection? A new member on team seven to replace Sakura?

"Was the One Piece kid trying to change the plot?

Narumi shook her head.

"It didn't look like it. I got the impression he lived in own little world and didn't really care about _this_ world at all."

So all of the people we currently know about are all pacifists when it comes to getting involved in this stuff.

"But what about the people who _do_ care? Why haven't they shown up before now? Maya's been keeping a pretty decent lookout for that type of stuff, though you apparently missed her radar."

For that comment I received a fierce glare, Narumi coming to my rescue.

"Uh, yeah. Don't feel too bad about that one Maya. For a long time I didn't do much advertising. I just recently started it up again along with some heavily guarded public appearances. Some psycho super fan in a mask tried to kidnap me after the books first came out. Terrified my parents and my brother still can't stop beating himself up over it. Ever since then security around me has been crazy tight. The perks of wealth I guess."

Maya perked up, narrowing her eyes.

"That sounds like some pretty convenient timing. It almost sounds like someone was trying to off you for what you know."

Narumi shrugged, looking unconcerned.

"I guess, but no one's tried anything since. I'm from a clan of rich people, which by the way is a pretty sweet situation to get reincarnated into. Way better than my last life in that aspect. Chances are someone would try to kidnap a clan member and hold them for ransom. It doesn't necessarily mean much."

"But it would make sense."

Both of them looked to turn to me.

"What if that's why nothing has changed? What if every time someone tries to change something, some stops them before they can?"

Narumi just frowned.

"But why? And who would want to do something like that? I'm all for keeping the plot the same, but why bother to that extreme? And how would they be able to find people like that in the first place?"

I deflated a bit under that counter.

"I guess…"

Maya started to slowly tap her finger against the table, chin resting on her other hand.

"Maybe they're just waiting for the right moment to change something. I know I am. But we don't have any real evidence so far and that explanation would only solve one of our questions. You could assume that the person who brought us all here would know who we were, but I don't see the point of going through all of that just to kill us off. Not to mention that we're still alive."

But maybe-

"But what if it's a person like us who's killing them all off? What if they stake out major events and get rid of anyone who get's in the way? It's pretty drastic and insane sounding, but if they really wanted badly enough it could happen."

Maya quickly shook her head.

"I doubt it. They'd have to be hanging around the main characters to do that and I would've noticed something by now. Plus we're not even sure if everyone who's tried to change something is really dead. This is all just speculation, no matter how it might look right now. This is why we need to find more people like us and talk to them before coming to a conclusion."

She had a point, but I felt like my own still had merit. Maybe I couldn't quite figure out how this thing worked out exactly yet, but I would. And then somehow along the way I'd get to finally go home. Another day stuck here meant another day wasted comatose or whatever had happened to me in my real life. That led to asking questions. Questions I didn't like to think about the answers to.

How much time had really passed? What had I missed? What had happened to my family? Were they there at my bedside, hoping and praying for me to wake up? Had it been so long that no one bothered to visit me in years?

What if I missed graduating high school? What if my life is over and all that's left for me is living out my last few years in a hospital bed withering away?

What it was better to just stay here than to wake up and risk my life being over before it ever really even got to begin?

At this point though, all I could really do was just keep trying and moving forward. Running away and ignoring everything would only serve to drag it out longer, and as a consequence possibly just make it all that much worse. I didn't really get how time flowed between our universes, or coma land maybe, but I needed to do _something_.

"So what do we do now?"

Maya sat up straight, arms crossed, a small smile appearing at the corner of her lips.

"We're going on a trip to The Land of Waves."

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I am in fact a One Piece fan. Kay's likes and dislikes don't always reflect my own.<p>

AN: I'm a bit unsure about pacing and character introduction here, but I thought it turned out okay. You'll be getting to know a lot more about Carla/Narumi and Maya's backstories as the story moves forwards. For those of you who haven't been following for as long, Narumi is actually a character I created about a year ago in chapter in this story that I scrapped when I did some plot overhauls. In that chapter I tried to introduce I believe eight new characters at once while not using a single dialog tag to keep up the style. Writers advice: never do that. It's a very bad idea.

Until next time! :D


	53. Repercussions

"So this is what we're going to do." Maya continued. "As a ninja I can't leave the village whenever I want to, that includes taking spontaneous trips around the country. But if Narumi requested my team for an escort mission for example, I'd have a reason to go."

"What about me?" I asked, feeling skeptical. "And wouldn't it look suspicious since you just met each other today?"

Maya slightly smirked. "Well, after meeting us, we all became fast friends since we have so much in common. In fact, Narumi invited you to come along with her on one of her books tours down in Wave."

Well, the having things in common part was at least true.

Narumi sat with her arms crossed, looking warily between the two of us.

"I guess that could work… I mean, I'd have to get into contact with some people down there to set something up for real. It wouldn't be so good if we were caught in a lie."

She slumped forward in her seat, chin resting on the table and expression turning into a pout.

"But do I have to go? Why can't Kay just hire your team instead and you guys go by yourselves?"

Maya shot her a glare.

"What? Did you miss the entire discussion we just had? Maybe the part where we speculated about death and about people getting killed? We're all in this together. And besides, you're the only one who knows what he looks like."

"And I'm broke."

Narumi sunk down further in her seat, grumbling not-so-quietly to herself.

"Okay, _fine_. I just don't want to get involved more than I have to. Once we figure this out I need to get back to my normal life again. I don't want to get myself into a complicated mess."

Normal life? How was anything about being in this world normal?

"So how long are we going to be gone for?" I asked, trying to shake off those thoughts.

Maya lightly tapped her finger on the table, staring off in thought.

"Considering that we'd be traveling at a civilian pace there and back and that we'd be there for a day or two at least… I'd say about two weeks."

Two _weeks_?

"I can't be gone for two weeks! Missing a day is one thing, but I can't be gone for that long!"

Maya gave a long, hard look as she stared me down from across the table.

"Quit the academy already."

Quit? As actually _quit_ quit? For real?

I kept saying I wanted to quit, but when it came down to it those words weren't the ones that left my mouth.

"I- No! I can't!"

"You go to the _academy_?" Narumi suddenly exclaimed. "As in the _ninja_ academy? How old _are_ you?"

I tried to ignore her as I tried to piece together some sort of explanation to my reaction.

"I mean- I can't just leave like that. With Jun there and everything- and I still want to learn all of that ninja stuff, and honestly if it wasn't for school, my life would pretty boring and empty, and…"

I'd never really realized it, but going to school was something I didn't quite want to let go of yet. As much as I complained about it and dreamed of ditching the village to go out on some great adventure, there was something nice about having at least one constant in my life, no matter what world I was in. It gave me something to do, a routine and a schedule for each day instead of just sitting in my apartment or wandering aimlessly around the village.

I wanted an adventure and change on my own terms, but that isn't quite how the life likes to work.

Maya watched with raised eyebrows as my defense eventually died off.

"If you really want to learn jutsu and how to fight that bad, I can teach you more and faster myself."

She- She would? Didn't she have better things to do?

"You'd really be willing to do that?"

Maya shrugged.

"There's going to be a lot of travel time during the mission and I know Gai-sensei and Lee would be more than happy to help out as well."

An involuntary shiver swept through my system.

"That's really nice of you to offer-"

"Then it's settled. You can quit the academy and then come along with us."

I had to fight the strong urge to repeatedly smash my face against the table.

"That wasn't a yes..."

"Look." Maya let out an agitated sigh. "We don't know what we're going to find out when we get there. For all we know, we'll figure out a way to get you back home right away. Would you really choose the academy over that?"

She… had a point. A pretty good point actually. In the grand scheme of things, attending the academy was pretty near the bottom of the priority list, if not at the bottom. Getting home was meant to be at the top. Priorities. Those were supposed to be a thing.

I sucked in a deep breath.

"So when do we leave?"

"That's a good question."

We both turned to Narumi for the answer, who seemed to have zoned out for the duration of our back and forth. Instead she was staring off into space with big, goofy grin on her face. After a couple of seconds of dead silence she jumped, face going red.

"Sorry. I just got this new plot idea and… What was the question?"

Maya repeated it for her, and Narumi was quick enough to dish out an explanation.

"Um- Well, I'll need a few days to set something up via hawk since I can't exactly call people to do it. You know, I seriously miss having phones. You'd think with having TVs and wireless radios the phone wouldn't be too far off, but _nooooo_. Maybe in a few years we'll get it along with decent computers. There's this theory I remember reading online about the Naruto world actually being an alternate universe of our own where some apocalyptic event happened that lead to the creation of chakra. It'd explain the architecture and mix of tech, not to mention the country similarities to our world."

That, or Kishimoto just felt like making it that way. Her theory though _could_ hold some real merit... It would answer my country questions.

"That's… fascinating." Maya deadpanned. "I'll leave that to you then."

Narumi nodded enthusiastically, either choosing to ignore or just oblivious to her tone.

"Great! I'll track you guys down when I know more."

I nodded, feeling as though there was something important still to be said.

I knew needed to figure out who was going to watch Tora while I was gone, seeing as how I didn't exactly have family or friends to do that. Maybe I could ask my neighbors? I still needed to try and give back that kanzashi somehow… Man was that going to be an awkward conversation.

Oh right.

The ANBU.

I hadn't thought about that topic in any real depth for a long time, not with the wedding and everything else going on. The ANBU were just there and I accepted that, but that was before I'd seriously thought about leaving the village.

So… could I even leave?

There was a good chance I was under some sort of village arrest no one had bothered to tell me about. I guess it was just assumed that I had known. Seeing as how no one handed me travel papers at any point, the village arrest was a very likely possibility. Though I hadn't exactly tried to leave either…

And even though I used the Academy as a sort of security blanket, I didn't want to get left behind and I didn't want to hide out in the village for the rest of my days. But did I really have much of a choice?

"I don't think I can go." I announced in the lull of the moment. "Not with my ANBU guard and everything. The more I think about, the more I realize that they probably won't let me step an inch out past the front gate."

"ANBU guard?" Narumi repeated, eyes suddenly sparkling and grin spreading as she looked around the room as though she could actually see through her bedroom walls. "What did you do to get that? Is Kato Mako important or something? Did you do something illegal? Do you just have connections? Is someone after you?"

"Uh…"

I shrugged, trying to ignore the fact that she had just asked me if I was a criminal with a smile on her face. So apparently any danger or complications in her life were a terrible thing, but in other people's they were fascinating.

"I don't actually know much about who Kato Mako is, but as far as I can tell she has some sort of connection to Tsunade. I think. I' haven't been putting much effort into finding things out up to this point."

Narumi took in my reply with a frown.

"Seriously? But she's _you_. How can you not know?"

"I've only been here a couple months and I haven't been introduced to a single family member so far."

Narumi took the whole couple of month's thing in stride, only blinking rapidly a couple of times, opening and closing her mouth before being able to speak again.

"You did kind of imply that with the waking up explanation… But don't tell me you weren't the least bit interested!"

Once again I shrugged.

"Not really? Sort of? It wasn't really a focus of mine."

I'd rather be Kay than Mako any day.

She huffed, crossing her arms.

"That's lame. Super lame. You're lame."

"Your insults are lame."

"Your face is lame!"

"I rest my case."

Maya loudly cleared her throat, bringing back our attention.

"If you two children are done, can we get back to the actually important stuff?"

Narumi immediacy deflated under the scrutiny, but I had to hold back a bit of a smile.

Maya just rolled her eyes.

"When it comes down to it, we still need to meet this person down in Wave, whether you're actually with us or not. I don't see why you couldn't try to talk to Tsunade about it, using your apparent connections. I think it's a lot more likely that the ANBU are here to watch you for suspicious activity than protect you from something anyway. She might be a bit lenient since you haven't done anything worth a lot of scrutiny over, well besides your whole existence I suppose."

I stared at her for a couple of seconds in disbelief. Nothing worth scrutiny over? Really? How about the whole jailing and interroga-

Oh.

_Oh_.

I felt like slamming my face against the table for real this time.

I'd… never actually gotten around to sharing about that part of my time here. After the interrogation happened and I was let go, the whole thing got brushed off to the side. It was easy enough to dismiss while in my dream mindset. But maybe I had done it a little… _too well..._ because I hadn't thought about the details that led up to that even in what felt like a very long time.

I tried to swallow back a lump in my throat that was starting to form.

The biggest impact the event had on me was making me realize that I couldn't go around spouting off blatantly suspicious things unless I wanted to revisit that cozy jail cell.

But now-

Oh no.

Oh _no no no no no-_

I looked between Maya and Carla, both of them watching like they were waiting for me to say something. Maya stared at me with what looked like a mix of annoyance and confusion, eyebrows furrowed and mouth set to a frown.

"Are you really that against talking to Tsunade? You've gone all pale."

I nodded stiffly, heart rate quickly jumping up as I used her misinterpretation as time to figure out what I was heck going to do.

I'd told them about the Akatsuki. Every single thing that I'd known about them at the time. Things that no one in their right mind would have if they were in my situation.

What I'd told Tsunade and the others hadn't meant much to me back then. Nothing was real, so who cared what people would do with the information?

Except now, I did.

I clenched my hands into fists, trying to hide the fact that they were starting to shake.

All of those Akatsuki and plot secrets were out in to open. And after with my mix up with Anko, there was a good chance some of it was very wrong as well. There was only so much you could double check with the intel the leaf currently had. But if some of it turned out correct, they might end up trusting it and then-

I had screwed up. Right there at the very beginning.

In what must have just a minute or two, I ruined up everything. Everything Maya had been spending her entire life trying to keep exactly the same. And it was all for now nothing.

And as far as I knew there was no way to fix it.

All because of _me_.

Maya had no idea that everything she was trying to do was now rendered completely pointless.

I tried to swallow the bile that was slowly crawling up my throat.

She'd spent years living a lie, pretending to be someone she wasn't in hopes that somewhere down the line she could change the plot when it really counted. Maya had obliviously suffered from that choice, considering everything that she'd said. Narumi's plans to keep safe probably depended on future knowledge as well.

I was stupid. I was so, _so_ stupid. Just one small change could lead to so many other things.

What if someone died because of me? What if someone's life was destroyed? And it would be all on me. Every death that was never supposed to happen. Every new tragedy as a result of my actions.

And that led to a whole other line of questions.

Why had I been allowed on the streets? This place was basically a military dictatorship. They could have kept me locked up forever if they had wanted to. Back then I had thought it was because they had nothing concrete on me, but maybe there was more to it. No, there _had_ to be more to it. I needed to know who Kato Mako was if I wanted answers.

So what was I going to say to Maya and Narumi? They were going to hate me for this. Seriously hate me. Screw all the friendship talks and niceties. Something like this would be the final straw. This was a cosmic level screw up that I couldn't see being forgiven.

"Hey, you're not looking so good." Narumi pointed out with a tinge of concern in her voice.

Crap. I didn't need them asking questions before I figured things out for myself. This was a bit of extreme reaction for not wanting to talk to Tsunade. I needed to relax, at least for right now. When I got home I could freak out all I wanted.

But what if someone does actually come and kill me over this? What if I die and I never get to see anyone ever again? What if I never actually go back to my world? What if I really had been dead this entire time?

"Are you alright?" Maya asked a few seconds later, voice louder than usual. It probably had something to do with my lack of verbal response.

I put up a hand to stop them, not really paying attention and instead just trying to just focus on my breathing.

"I'm fine."

They needed to know. They _deserved_ to know.

But I was a coward. I didn't want to face their reactions- at least not right now. I needed some time to think and figure out what I was going to say. Maybe the One Piece kid _had_ changed something and that would cushion the blow a bit if he revealed that first.

It was hypothetical, but it was hope. Desperate hope.

I made a bit of a show of rubbing at my temples, wiping the sweat from my hands on my shorts.

"Are you sure?" Maya asked again.

I found that I couldn't look either of them in the eye, for multiple reasons. I wasn't sure if I felt mortified, embarrassed, or terrified right then. Probably a mix of all three.

I nodded my head, trying to get the world back in focus. Maya was sitting to my left, eyes wide and looking uncomfortable and unsure of what to do. Carla was staring at me like I was about to faint at any moment.

"I'll be okay. You don't have to look so worried"

Narmui sent Maya some sort of look that I didn't turn in time to see the reaction to.

"Do want me to get you something?"

I shook my head, taking a deep breath before giving her one of the fakest smiles I had in my arsenal.

"I'll be fine. Thanks for asking though."

This time I turned in time to see Maya's eyes narrow, but I could help but look away again.

"So Carla,"

"Narumi." She immediately corrected me.

"Right. Narumi,"

There was nothing quite like changing the subject for a quick distraction.

"Tell me about the stuff you're currently writing."

She immediately perked up at my request, eyes practically glowing from excitement.

"Really? Well- How about the original story I'm currently writing? You see the Star Wars and other stuff was all part of my plan to not only share those great stories with this world, but also springboard my career so that I-"

* * *

><p>AN: Because chapter 10 had to come back to bite her at some point. :D<p>

Oh hey! It's an update!

So my excuses are that I was doing NaNoWriMo in November, was on vacation in December, and school had kept me very busy these days. My life has been pretty stressful lately so the work on this story has been slow going. But I'm really hoping to finish this story at a much quicker pace from now on. :)

I'm not sure if I'm all that happy with this chapter but I'm dying to move on from it and finally get to the stuff I'm excited about writing. The two year anniversary of this story just passed and it's pretty crazy to think about everything that's happened since then. The length of this was originally supposed to be about 15 chapters max, but as you can see that didn't quite happen…

A special thank you to everyone who has read this story and/or has stuck through it with me, even if you don't review. I'm really hoping to go back and rewrite the earlier chapters some day, most likely after I'm done writing this story completely. They're pretty cringy for me to read whenever I have to go back and check continuity. ^^; But hooray for improvement! I've learned a lot through writing Sleepless and so it has a special place in my heart.


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